The Mark of Athena
by Kimmie G914
Summary: Annabeth and Percy are reunited! Jason has a choice to make between Piper and Reyna, but more than in love. Hazel can either follow her heart, or make the mistake, and enemy, of a lifetime. Who will survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so for everyone who's already read my first chapter 1, I just thought I could edit some stuff here and there, fix some grammar mistakes, all that jazz. I kind of edited a few different parts of the story as well!**

**For all my New-Comers, welcome to Kimmie G914's version of the Mark of Athena! I'm a really weird person, and I just thought you all should know that, and for all my previous fans who already know me, you can probably confirm that what I'm saying is true!**

**Okay, so let's get on with this chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Annabeth

Annabeth leaned over the edge of the ship. She was going somewhere no Greek had ever gone before, and she was ecstatic! To her this trip was the adventure of a life time.

Rome had some of the most valuable things in life to her. It had new architecture, a strong battle force, and most important of all, Percy.

Percy Jackson was Annabeth's boy-friend, and about eight months ago he'd gone missing. Now she knew where he was, and she was going to see him! Finally, after eight months!

Then a disturbing thought crossed her mind, and she moved away from the side of the ship. _What if what happened to Jason happened to Percy? What if he doesn't remember me? _

She was sad, but only for a second, because she was going to stay strong and be the girl she was. She went back over to the railing, and started leaning over it again.

_This feeling is _incredible_!_ Annabeth thought as she extended her arms out and closed her eyes as the boat continued its journey downward toward land. Toward Percy.

There was a sudden jerk of the ship, and Annabeth lost her balance, and went tumbling over the side of the huge boat, head first!

There were multiple gasps, some hushed voices, and finally, the cry of a voice she hadn't heard in a long time, "Annabeth!"

"Percy!" she cried back, continuing to tumble through the air.

She saw how rapidly the earth was rushing toward her, and she gave at final scream and closed her eyes, hoping that her mother would be kind to her and kill her quickly.

No sooner had she closed her eyes, then she had landed on what felt like two sticks. Two strong, slightly muscular sticks, which were holding her up.

"Are you alright?" Percy asked, and she opened her eyes.

She had fallen into Percy's arms, and his sea green eyes were looming over her, concern spread all over them.

"I'm alright now, Seaweed Brain," she started, and smiled into Percy's eyes.

Percy stood her up gently in grass.

He smiled warmly, and the blood in her veins seemed to rush faster as Percy took her hand and lead her gingerly over to the huge crowd that was surrounding the front of the ship.

"Everyone, this is-" Percy started, gesturing to Annabeth, when Piper cried from the deck of the ship, "Annabeth!"

All head turned to her as she leaned over the edge, screaming for Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" she cried again, and this time some people whispered, and a few giggled.

_Talk about rude! _Annabeth thought.

Piper raced off the ship and ran over to where Percy and Annabeth were standing.

"Oh, thank the gods you're alright!" Piper gasped, then rambled, "I saw you lean over the rail with your arms out, and I was all, 'Oh, that's nice!' and I walked down below deck for a second! But then the ship jerked as we landed, and I rushed up to the deck to check on you, just in time to see your feet go over! I ran over and saw you start falling, and I tried to grab you, but then I didn't _obviously _and then you kept falling so FREAK'N FAST!I was SO worried about you, but I now I see that you're okay, so I feel a lot better!" then she turned to Percy and said, "Thank you, person, for saving Annabeth!"

_Person? _I thought quickly, then realized, _She doesn't know that that's Percy! _

"Person?" Percy asked, confused, "Annabeth hasn't mentioned me?"

"Well," she said, as she put one hand on her hip, and looked Percy up and down, "Not unless you're Percy Jackson, because that was all she EVER talked about!"

I gave a sigh of relief as Percy expression softened as he said, "Yes, that would be me. And who are you, might I ask?"

"Oh! I'm Piper!" she said cheerfully. "Head of Aphrodite house and charmspeaker."

Percy nodded and said, "I've heard of those! So, you're a daughter of Aphrodite!"

She smiled. "Yes I am."

They shook hands, and Annabeth thought, _Well, geez! Piper is acting...different__! She's acting like some brain-dead dipsy, who could only think about being pretty! What is up with her? _

"Yo, yo, yo, yo, Rome!" someone yelled from on the deck, and Leo stuck his small head over the side of the ship.

This head disappeared, and about twenty seconds later, Leo was running over to us.

"Sorry I'm late! I was busy parking the boat, and the Jason needed to talk to me-" he started, but then Piper whirled on him and yelled, "Do you know that your lousy parking job nearly KILLED Annabeth!"

Leo's playful look turned completely serious, as he asked, "Wait, what?"

Piper filled Leo in, and he said, "Gee, Annabeth, I'm sorry! It's just-"but then some one asked, "Wait, WHO needed to speak with you?"

A girl about Annabeth's age shoved through the crowd and stood at the front beside Percy, and Annabeth couldn't help but think, _Who the heck is _THAT_? _

And just at that moment, Jason walked over to Leo and asked, "'Sup?"

"Jason," she said slowly, her eyes growing, and Jason's eyes grew, too.

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><p><strong>Okay, and for all the oldies, you know about the Hanzakwanzamis thing, and for all the newbies, Hanzakwanzamis is Hanuka, Kwanza, and Christmas, all rolled up in one! So, leave what YOU want for Hanzakwanzamis in the reviews! Thanks-a-million! :P!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys! You know, I'm very suprised by how much publicity this story has gotten already! Thank you all so much! I'll try to add more as soon as possible, and don't forget to write what you want for the holidays! Merry Hanzakwanzamas! ;) PLEASE REVIEW!**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Annabeth

They were staring at each other for a long time, and Annabeth felt slightly confused.

Then, Piper broke the silence by pointing at Reyna and glaring at Jason, "Do you know her?"

I stifled a laugh Jason blushed and looked down at his shoes, while Reyna rushed up to Piper and said, "Yes, we do," then turned to Jason and asked, "How do you know _her_?" as if Piper was some loathsome thing.

_Well, _Annabeth thought, _That was kind of rude of Piper, but Reyna didn't need to get all up in her face like that. _

Jason stared at them and started, "Well, I-" but then Piper turned to Reyna and asked, "Yeah, I was his fake girl-friend."

Piper stopped her weird little behavior as she explained everything to Reyna.

"Aphrodite…" Reyna paused, "Do you mean Venus?"

"Yes," Percy and Jason said at the same time.

"Well," Reyna scoffed, "I'm not so sure what's so great about her. She can't even produce proper children to fight! Let alone be strong willed!"

Piper through her arms behind her and growled, "Oh, I bet you're wrong."

Jason eyes grew wide as he starred at Piper. Annabeth got worried and began to sweat. She and Jason both knew how powerful Piper could get, especially when she got angry.

"Oh yeah?" Reyna turned and asked, "prove it!"

' Piper drew her knife with on swift motion, and charged Reyna, but Reyna drew her sword and parried easily.

"Is that all you got?" Reyna laughed as Piper backed away.

"Are you kidding?" Piper laughed, too, "I'm just getting started!"

Piper cried and lunged again, and Reyna parried. Piper stabbed and blocked and missed, and stabbed again. They went on like this for what felt like hours, until Jason ran in and cried, "STOP!"

Piper backed away, and Reyna sheathed her sword, and Jason nodded at Percy.

"I think that we should show our guests around town, while everyone returns to their regular duties," Percy instructed.

There were a few grumbles, but everyone soon left the grassy plain where the ship had landed, and walked back to their camp.

Except for two people, who were holding hands. There was a tall, beefy boy with a small head, and a thin, nice looking girl, who was much shorter than he was.

"Guys," Percy said, leading Annabeth over to the couple, "These are my newest friends, Hazel," he gestured to the girl, "And Frank," he gestured to the guy.

There were a couple murmurs of, "Hey," of, "What's up?" but, Annabeth wasn't listening. She started off by admiring how well kempt this amazingly huge field was, and wondered how long it took to keep it so. But, soon, her gaze trailed of, because in the distance, she could make out a city. A small, beautiful city with buildings and people.

The designs were so amazing she could see some of them from up there.

She clutched Percy's arm and said, "I want to see that town. Can we go?"

"Well, sure! Anywhere you want! I've missed you so much, Annabeth."

She nodded, and looked up at him. "I've missed you, too."

They began walking down a hill, and Percy began to explain, "Right now, we're in the fields of Mars, and this whole place is called Camp-" but Jason finished, "Jupiter."

"Yeah," Percy stared at him for a second, then asked, "Oh, wait, are you Jason? Like, Jason Grace, Jason? The praetor? Oh, dude," Percy walked over and shook his hand, "I've heard so much about you! Here," he took off the purple cape Annabeth hadn't even known he was wearing and gave it to Jason, "I didn't mean to steal your life. Or your house. Or anything. Seriously, feel free to take EVERYHTING back! I never meant to intrude."

"Thanks," Jason said, taking the cape, "I've missed wearing this as soon as I remembered I used to! I hope you've kept my house in order?"

"Actually, I was only elected a couple hours ago. I've never even been in there wearing that cape. Only when Reyna interrogated me. Which, was only about twice. See, look," Percy held up his arm, palm up, and pulled his sleeve back, just past his elbow, where a black tattoo with a trident, underneath were the letters, "SPQR," and a single black stripe, all fitting into the crook of his elbow.

"It still stings!" Percy and Jason laughed together, but Annabeth was mad.

"They gave you a TATOO?"

"Annabeth-"

"Don't you 'Annabeth' me, Percy! WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?"

"It's for praetors. They get a special mark on their elbow symbolizing their godly parent," Percy pointed to the trident, "the Roman government," he pointed to the letters, "and how many years you've been in service." He pointed to the black stripe.

"How do they mark you, Percy?" Annabeth tapped her foot repeatedly and crossed her arms.

"Octavian waves his hand over your arm and uses some special magic to burn it in. I'm okay, really."

"Does it last forever?" she whirled on Jason.

"I'm not sure, Annabeth, but probably."

She groaned, then sat down on the ground and crossed her legs and arms.

Leo walked over to her and asked, "Gods, Annabeth! You are acting way more moody than usual! Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just I don't like that this, 'Octavian' marked my boy-friend with the eternal government tattoo!" she huffed.

Percy walked over to her and coaxed, "I'm fine, really, but if you keep sitting there, we can't go see the city."

She stood up, and asked, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"You." Everyone said, and Hazel and Leo laughed.

Annabeth stomped her foot and rushed on ahead, with Percy running up behind her.

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><p><strong>Yay, they're going to see the city! I wish you all a merry reading, and a happy next chapter! Don't forget to post what you want for Hanzakwanzamas! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ;)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone! Thank you all so much for reading, and sorry I took forever to write this next chapter! I was waiting for the comments to roll in on my contest, but, let's just finish it! All reviews will be posted at the end!**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Hazel

As Annabeth stormed off in front, Hazel thought, _Gods, this girl is tough! She almost died, had a fit when her boy-friend had been marked, and publicly embarrassed, and she's _STILL _acting head-strong and dangerous! That's a daughter of Bellona if I've ever seen one! _

Hazel put her hand up to her mouth to cover a giggle as she thought, _Man, she doesn't even know where she's going! _

Hazel knew it was mean to think this way, but she had to admit, it was pretty funny.

She then remembered that she wasn't the only one who had been laughing. She looked around and saw a boy with curly hair, who looked too much like Sammy to be a coincidence.

As they followed Percy and Annabeth down the hill, Hazel asked Frank, "Hey, I'll catch up with you in a sec, okay?"

"Are you going to go nervous up some cursed diamonds?" he asked sarcastically, then laughed and replied, "sure, go ahead! I'll be around when you come back!" and continued walking after Annabeth.

Hazel had noticed Frank had become more confident when they started dating. _I'm glad I could make a difference in him, _Hazel thought,_ but I'm not sure I like this Frank so much. He's too head-strong, and he jokes about everything! And, some of his jokes can be a little mean…_

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" the curly haired boy asked.

"Oh, um," Hazel turned back to make sure Frank wasn't looking, then gestured to Frank as she said, "That."

"Oh," he replied, as if he totally understood, "yeah. Is he your boy-friend?"

"Yeah."

"Good for him." He smiled.

"I'm-" Hazel started, but then the boy nodded and replied, "Yeah, I know who you are. Hazel."

"Hazel Levesque." She corrected.

"Really?" he looked surprised.

"Yes," Hazel replied, forcing a looking of confusion onto her face. She was really thinking; _Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, oh, I hope so! Please, be related to Sammy in _SOME _way! I just have to know! _

"It's just," he started.

"Yeah?"

"Well, my great-grandpa mentioned someone named Hazel Levesque, and he talked about how she was his first love, and the day after he kissed her, he never saw her again. He's always wanted to know what happened to her, and if him kissing her scared her away, or made her kill herself. I've seen a couple pictures of her, and you look _exactly _like her. Are you related?"

"I'm Hazel Levesque, from the Levesque family. She was my great-grandma, and she always told me about how she wished she could see a boy named Sammy Valdez again. I asked her who he was, and she would always say that he was her one true love. "She told me about the time he kissed her, and they were riding horses, and she talked about how the day after, her mother forced her to move to Alaska."

_Oh, Sammy! _Hazel thought, _You really _did _love me! I thought I'd scared _you _off! Oh, I miss you so much! I hate lying to Leo like this, but I can't just tell him! I want him to know, but he just _can't_! Do you know how wrong to Frank that would be? It took me _forever _to tell him, and if I just burst out and tell Leo, he'd be _devastated_! I hope you understand! Most of this is true, I promise! _

"Then," Hazel continued, "After Great-Grammy," she made up a name for Grandma she could use, "turned twenty, she moved back to New Orleans, looking for Sammy, but she never found him." _Lie, _Hazel thought.

"She'd been afraid he'd killed himself, so she married a nice man who had similar interests as her that she met at a Marti Gra. I _would _be a Hazel Levesque the 4th, but my mother was named something else, breaking the cycle."

"Oh." Was all Leo could muster.

"Yeah," Hazel replied.

"Whoa!" Leo looked down at the ground.

Following them was a gigantic trail of diamonds, jewels, and gold.

"This is awesome! Must be my lucky day!" Leo bent down to pick one up, but Hazel picked that one, and shoved it into the ground.

"What the-" Leo stood back up in surprise, then turned to Hazel, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" she lied.

"Okay, then." Leo bent down to pick up another one, but she started molding it into crazy shapes, one after another.

"Ah!" Leo jumped back in surprise.

"I see it!" Hazel cried, pretending to be scared, "What do we do?"

Then, Hazel sunk each and every one of them down into the ground, and looked as shocked and horrified as Leo felt.

"That was CRAZY!" Leo gasped when all the stuff was gone.

"Yeah," Hazel replied, lost in thought.

"Does that happen a lot here?" Leo turned to her.

"No," she lied.

"Odd."

"Yeah."

"Oh, check out the city!" Leo pointed over to the stones surrounding the city, then the statue of Terminus, the god that borders the city.

"Hey, Terminus!" Frank shouted, and Hazel laughed slightly.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Leo asked.

"Oh," Hazel looked over at Leo, "it's just that Frank has never been so head strong before! I wonder why…?"

"Beats me! I hope you're happy, though!"

"Thanks," she mumbled shyly.

_Why, why _WHY _is it that it's so hard to choose between two boys! _Hazel thought, exasperated.

_Well, let's hope that Leo enjoys the city! Let's hope Piper enjoys it, too! You know, I might have to meet her! She seems nice! I'd like to be strong-willed enough to fight against Reyna! Especially a daughter of Venus, who's into Jason! I wonder how it will turn out between them…_

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><p><strong>Okay, let's roll out the reviews! <strong>

**Bradie: I want a 24 kt gold plated kindle fire, a diamond encrusted ferrari, and a trip to wherever Rick Riordan is so i can watch him write the mark of athena.**

****Elias Haddad: ******Hey all I want fo Hanzakwanzamas is my GF**

****Blondie B. Happy: **okay, 4 christmas, or hanza-whatever-it-is, i would like books (i wont name them all), Wii games, Movies, and Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday! Gr8 chapter keep up the freaking awesome work!**

**TADA! SO, there you have it! Oh, and there is one review that I want to show for being just so dang redundant! **

**Izz Fizz: i don't know if you are aiming this as a percabeth and jeyna/jasper story but if not can u put in some of the leo hazel thing because i'd like to see ur opinion on it :) also how frank reacts... thats all, still luv ur story :p**

**It's redundant, because I'd already started chapter 3 about that, BEFORE she reviewed it! Happy Christmas Eve Eve for all of you Christian fellows, and a HAPPY HANZAKWANZAMAS! ;P!**


	4. Chapter 4

**;)**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Hazel

"Hey!" Hazel called out, running up to the front of the group, nearly tripping Annabeth.

"Watch where you're going!" Annabeth mumbled, crossing her arms.

_Sorry! _Hazel thought, but she just nodded and said, "Now, I should warn you guys."

A small murmur rippled through the crowd.

"Terminus is sort of a…" Hazel started, but Frank finished, "Neat-freak."

"Terminus?" Piper asked, just as the stone statue outside the city, Terminus, shouted, "Hey, I HEARD that!"

Piper shrieked, gasped, and fainted into Jason's arms. Jason started to panic, and Leo started to laugh hysterically.

Through all the confusion, Hazel noticed a bush rustle in the distance, and Hazel slipped away to investigate.

She quietly made her way around the back of the shrub, and finally, she drew her knife, and was ready to attack, when she saw someone she hadn't been expecting to see. Reyna. Spying on them.

"Reyna!" Hazel gasped quietly after a moment's hesitation.

"What?" Reyna asked, as if spying on people who liked the person they liked was something she did everyday, and that it was no big deal.

"You are SPY on Jason and Piper! That's, 'What?'!" Hazel whispered furiously.

"Look," Reyna finally turned her body to face Hazel, "Piper is getting WAY too close to Jason, and after that whole Juno made me think Jason was my boy-friend, and stuff, I don't trust her, because Jason doesn't seem to care! I need to keep her from getting too close. Now, out of my way, or I swear, I will break your nose!

"Oh, do not tell anyone of this conversation, or that you saw me here! Now, flee!"

"Yes, praetor."

"Good. Now, GO!"

Hazel walked away, feeling slightly guilty.

_I didn't know Reyna cared so much! I didn't even know she _COULD _care so much! _Hazel thought on her way back over to the group.

After Hazel was back, and the confusion had settled, and Piper had been, "revived," they walked up to the border of the city.

Annabeth gazed, awestruck, at the city as far as she could see, and that made Hazel smile.

_At least I can make _ONE _person smile! _She thought.

"Please leave any weapons on the tray and out of the city!" Terminus barked.

"What tray?" Leo asked stupidly.

Terminus rolled his eyes, "The one right next to me, you-" but stopped when there was nothing next to him.

"Julia!" he called, "Julia!"

A little girl with blonde hair in ponytails on the sides of her head, peered out from behind Terminus, holding a bronze tray.

"Oh, there you are!" Terminus exclaimed as she held out the tray to us.

"Oh, look!" Piper exclaimed, "Your front teeth are missing!"

"Actually," Frank cut in, muscling through the crowd to the front, "One of them is growing back."

He was right, of course, but that didn't make up for the smug look he gave Piper.

_What is up with Frank? _She wondered as she placed her knife gently on the tray.

"Wait," Leo stood at the front of the city border still, "You guys actually trust a little girl to hand WEAPONS! Are you Romans INSANE!"

"Leo!" Piper and Hazel scolded, then they laughed at each other.

Then, everyone else joined in for laughter, except for Leo, who just turned bright red, placed a hammer on the tray, and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked up to us.

"Let's go examine this city?" Piper asked, turning to Hazel, "and I'd like to know all about you!"

They linked arms, and Hazel smiled, as Piper started telling really corny jokes and they started laughing. _Maybe I can make a best friend, _Hazel thought, and she began to laugh with Piper again, and she hoped that all would be well.

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><p><strong>Teehee! Happy Holidays, and HAPPY HANZAKWANZAMAS!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, now let's get slightly into the Jasper/Jayna situation, shall we? And, figure out why Piper has been acting so, "Aphrodite-ish?"**

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Piper

_I _HATE _Reyna! _Piper thought as she laughed and joked around with Hazel.

Piper had been putting up a dumb person act for the last two hours, knowing that someone who liked Jason HAD to be here! So, she acted less head strong, and more, hair twirly, than usual.

"So," Piper asked while Hazel was still laughing after one of her jokes, "Where did you come from? What's your story?"

So, Hazel explained to Piper that her godly parent was Pluto, and that she had been at camp for about a year.

"That's cool!" Piper replied, then laughed for no reason, "Hey, how long has Reyna been here?"

"As long as I can remember, and longer!" Hazel laughed.

Piper nodded, "That's nice. What can you tell me about her?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Oh, no reason!" Piper lied, thinking, _I _WILL _kill someone, just tell me _WHAT SHE THINKS OF JASON_! _

"Well, she's been worried about Jason ever since he disappeared…"

"Oh, really! Well, Jason's been fine! He's been with me, after all! I know how to take care of people!"

"I can tell!" Hazel nodded, looking slightly worried, then smiled and gestured to the entire town, "We're here."

And Hazel was right. We were there. In a place Piper had always wanted to be. A real city. With people like her.

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><p><strong>Okay, we'll get more into what the city looks like next chapter, I promise, but I want to give a little something to think about, okay? <strong>

**Q: Who would win in a fight: Piper, who has the Achilles heel affect, Reyna, Hazel, wearing a special armor, or Frank?**

**Who will win? I wanna know what you think! REVIEW! ;)!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, happy holidays! The Q will be answered later, OK?**

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

Piper

The city had huge buildings, and concession stands, but with monsters and demi-gods.

_It's like a demi-god New York city! _Piper thought enthusiastically, as Hazel pulled her over to a coffee cart.

"Hey, everyone!" Hazel called, "Drinks on me!"

A loud whoop went through our group, with some fist bumping and pumping.

Piper giggled, and they ordered coffee. A LOT of coffee! Percy bought himself 3 cups!

_Dang, how much sleep does this boy even get? _Piper thought.

As they drank their coffee, Piper stopped to get a cinnamon roll from a cart up ahead, and Annabeth nearly ran into her!

But, Piper jumped out of the way at the last second, and Annabeth, stopped walking and turned and gave her an evil look.

_Gods, _Piper thought, _Why is Annabeth acting all crazily emotional lately? Man, this is some _really _good coffee! _

Piper ate her roll, and drank her coffee, and she dropped it in a nearby trashcan, just before they reached the town square.

Piper's eyes widened as she stared at the most perfectly placed bricks that made up the town square.

Then she stared over at Annabeth, who looked as if she was in architecture heaven!

She and Annabeth ran over to the center of the square, and it had the most amazing design of a diamond in a circle, made of glass and gray stone.

Piper looked down and stared at her reflection in the glass diamond. She looked the same. A short choppy hair-cut, which she would have to fix to keep up with her beauty-queen look, no make-up, unlike Miss Bologna praetor named Reyna.

She had a simple shirt, some fresh jeans, and some killer red flats, just to help. But, those killer red flats, were KILLING her feet.

_I need high heels, _she thought, as she sat on the ground and took off her shoes, revealing blistered and calloused feet, massaging them to work out the pain as best she could.

_I also _MIGHT _want to invest some money in a clothing store around here. They might have cute mini-skirts, or dresses! _Piper thought, which them nearly made her sick.

_Look at me. _Piper thought miserably. _I'm wearing all this girly junk that I don't even care about, _JUST _to keep the boy I love away from Miss Bologna! I can not _BELIEVE _I would sink so low! _

_Well, believe it, sister, 'cause beauty hurts. I should know. _

Piper looked up in surprise, but found no one around. Her expression then changed from shock, to anger.

_I thought I told you I _NEVER _wanted to hear from you again! _Piper thought.

_Well, mother earth knows all, Piper. You and I have much in common. _

_No we don't, Gaea! _Piper thought.

_Don't fight it, Piper. _She coaxed, _embrace it. Join me, and Jason will be yours. And Reyna will be taken care of for you. _

"I will NEVER join you!" Piper shouted, and Jason, Frank, Hazel, and Annabeth's heads all whipped around to face her.

She blushed, and looked down at the diamond again.

Seconds later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see Percy squatting behind her, smiling reassuringly.

"Hey," he whispered, and moved to sit next to her, removing his hand from her shoulder.

She looked back down at the glass, and realized her eyes were red. She was going to cry.

_But why? _She asked herself.

"I know exactly what just happened there. It was Gaea, huh?" he asked politely.

She nodded glumly, holding back tears.

"She's been trying to recruit you, too, I'm guessing?"

"Ever since she learned about how much I wanted Jason," she mustered, and looked up at Percy. "Do you think I'll ever give in?"

"To be honest?" Percy asked, which scared the living day-lights out of Piper, but then he smiled and said, "Never."

Piper smiled, then they laughed together, and her tears suddenly vanished. She stood up, and Percy stood up with her. Then he ran off to Annabeth, who was closely admiring an amazingly sculpted building.

"Hey, Hazel!" Piper yelled, and Hazel ran over.

"I'm taking you shopping!"

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMER TIME! <strong>

**Disclaimer **

**me: Hey, Leo, what's cool?**

**Leo: Not you, that's for sure. **

**me: Hey! What did I do?**

**Leo: You make me sound so clueless in your story!**

**me: well... **

**Leo: And what the heck! You never even feautre my jokes!**

**me: I'm sorry, it's just.. **

**Leo: Wha? Am I not one of your Favorite characters anymore? **

**me: What? No!**

**Leo: You know what? Forget you! We'll get some other author to write us for us! **

**me: NO!**

**Leo: (Stabs me throught the chest with a sword) **

**me: (screams and cries) **

**Leo and Hazel: (Staring at me) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, my Loyal Peeps! And, yes, I DO mean marshmellows! Or, is it marshmallows... MIND FART! Oh, well, I'll remember. I'm really happy with everything, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Jason

As Jason watched Percy run to catch up with Annabeth, obviously apologizing for being so kind to Piper, Jason couldn't help but wonder why Annabeth was acting so stingy and emotional lately.

_Late puberty affect? _Jason thought sarcastically, as Annabeth crossed her arms and turned on Percy, but they were to far away for Jason to hear them, but she was swinging her arms and slapping her hands together, as Annabeth does when she's upset.

_Or maybe she's just trying some new attitude. Like Piper. _Jason chuckled at first, then looked over to Piper, who was arm in arm with Hazel as they were laughing and dancing and skipping along toward a clothing store by the square.

_Man, _Jason thought as he slowly walked over to the glass diamond in the center of the square, where Piper had had her break-down, _Why is Piper being so _COMPLICATED _all of a sudden! It's like she's trying to compete with Reyna or something… _

Then, the realization, or what he'd _thought _was the realization, hit him hard in the chest, which made him loose his breath.

_Piper's still into me, _he thought, _and she'll do anything to keep me. _

That's when Jason was hit hard in the back of the head, and his world faded to black, only hearing one voice say, "If I can't have you, Jason Grace, then no one can."

Reyna.

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><p><strong>I apologize for shortness, people, but I'm trying! Chapter 9 is pretty cool, and chapter 10 is going to be actioney, I hope! Thank you guys so much, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiyas! I think you all will like this chapter! It's sort of actioney, sort of, but chapter 10 I will try to make pretty good, OK? Thank you all so much that you're waiting this long for me! Happy New Year!**

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Jason

He woke up with a serious head ache, not knowing where he was. Then, everything that had happened washed over him, and he moaned, looking down to see him tied to a stalactite in cave, with Percy tied to another one nearby, still out.

_Gods, _Jason thought, _I don't remember Percy getting tied into this. I wonder why Reyna would knock-out Percy! She had some ridiculous reason to do this to me, but not to Percy! _

"Oh," a strong, feminine voice said lightly, "I've been waiting for you to come two, Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter."

This wasn't Reyna.

"Who are you!" Jason shouted, not willing to give in.

"You know exactly who I am, Jason. You're just not thinking hard enough. Why would I take you AND Percy? You know the answer to that question, don't you?"

"Show yourself!" Jason bellowed, which shook Percy awake, who grunted and shouted, "No, Piper PLEASE don't kill Annabeth! Annabeth, stop, stop, please, no, I KNOW you can fight for yourself! No, don't SHOW ME! AAAAAAAH!" and he snapped his head up, and he looked wild eyed around.

"Juno?" Jason asked, slightly worried.

"You wish." The voice coaxed, and if it was possible, Percy looked MORE surprised.

"Who the heck was that?" he sounded really panicked, but then he laughed and returned to Percy as he flipped his bangs and said, "I'm not going to let you MESS ME UP, GAEA!"

"See, now that wasn't so hard, was it, Jason?" she chuckled slightly, "and he didn't even know we were playing."

"Just let us go, Gaea," Percy said casually, as if he was knocked out and tied up to stalactites in caves by Mother Earth everyday, "You and I both know you're not going to get what you want."

"Oh, really?" she asked, but more in a playful way, then laughed and said, watch what I can do to vulnerable people."

A misty picture appeared, and Town Square was showing, and Reyna was looking around yelling, "Where is Piper?"

Then, Piper "super-model walked" out of the clothing store, wearing the shortest dress Jason had ever seen, and just enough make-up to make her look like the most beautiful girl in the world.

Jason's mouth hung open, then he turned to Percy to ask if he was seeing the same thing, when he noticed Percy's mouth was open, too, only he was drooling.

Then, Reyna ran up to Piper, and started screaming in her face, and Piper fell to her knees and began to cry hysterically.

Then, she grabbed Piper by the arm, and dragged her over the glass diamond in the center of the square.

Next thing, Reyna was screaming in her face again, and Piper was crying harder, and her mascara began to run.

Then, we finally heard Piper's voice, talking to Gaea, and she said, "Oh, lord Gaea, I pray to thee that Jason stays safe. I will do anything, as long as you promise me his safe return when I have finished. I pray that thou take pity on me, also, because I'm not the strongest person- Ow!" Reyna had just whacked Piper in across the face and screamed at her again.

No one was willing to go help Piper, which is what made Jason angry.

"Okay, I'll start over! I pray, my lord Gaea, that you keep Jason safe and unharmed, and in return, I will become your servant, and I will join the cause of Gaea. I make myself vulnerable to thee. Help me see the light."

"NOOOOOO!" Jason screamed, as he fought against the ropes holding him back.

"It's too late! She has surrendered herself to me, and her I shall take. How about I bring her here, to say her final good-byes to your love. I'll bring Reyna, too. One praetor under my control, and the other locked up in my dwellings. This going to be fun." She cackled like a witch, and that made Jason want to punch her. Where, ever she was.

Percy looked back up at the picture, and his eyes widened.

"Dude!" he whispered harshly, "Your girl-friends are MELTING!"

Jason snapped his head up, and he saw that Piper and Reyna were sinking into the ground, and Piper was freaking out!

Reyna acted like this was something she'd done everyday.

_I wonder how long she's been under Gaea's control. _Jason thought angrily. _What if she caused the fight with Piper on purpose! _

Piper's chest was under, and she was frantically pushing up against the earth, but it wasn't working.

Since Piper had been kneeling, she was farther in than Reyna. Reyna was only up to the waste, but her left hand was under, and useless. Her right hand was securely clinging to Piper's upper arm, and she was smiling funny.

"How much to you want to bet Reyna's slightly confused?" Percy asked, looking over at Jason.

"A lot."

Percy nodded, then looked up, and screamed, "Oh, Gods!"

Jason looked up at the roof of the cave, also, and to his surprise, he saw Reyna's shoes and ankles press through the earth.

_But where's Piper? _Jason thought frantically.

"Oh, no need to worry, Jason," Gaea coaxed, "she'll be fine. She won't die. I'll leave a tunnel when her head goes under. Like, now." She laughed.

Piper's braided pony-tail was the only thing left above the earth, but nothing of Piper was sticking out of the roof.

Reyna had her chest and above above the earth, and her calves had already poked through. Jason was starting to get really worried.

_Come on, Piper, come on… _Jason pleaded.

"Oh, alright, fine, Jason Grace. She'll be here in a minute." Gaea gave in, and Jason could have bet money that she rolled her ugly eyes.

Then, just like that, Piper's braid disappeared faster than anyone could say, "Wow, she's sinking," and she exploded through the roof of the cave.

Reyna laughed, and she, too, catapulted through the roof and disappeared, the earth closing up behind her.

Piper landed on the ground with a loud thud, and she stood up just as fast.

"Jason!" she cried, but just as fast, Reyna grabbed her arm and pulled her back, knocking her to the ground from the force.

"Let me go!" Piper cried, but Reyna pulled her to her feet and slapped her across the face.

"Let her go!" Jason shouted, and lurched forward, but was thrown back by the power of the ropes.

"You no longer work for your heart!" Reyna shouted, "You work for your lord."

"Nice work, Reyna," Gaea crooned, and Reyna smiled and bowed.

"Thank you, my lord, Gaea."

"You may call me your mistress, and bring Piper to me. She will be very useful, I promise. And, your reward will be met."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Reyna bowed again, then walked over to where Piper had sat, holding her knees to her chest, and rocking back and forth against the cave wall.

Reyna ripped her arm away and pulled her to her feet, and shoved Piper against a wall of the cave.

"Help!" Piper cried, but then Reyna pushed her harder and hissed, "Shut up! My mistress is at work, and she will with _silence_!"

So, Piper actually stopped talking, and I could tell Gaea was talking to her in her mind. She was torturing Piper, Jason could tell, and once again he struggled against the ropes.

Piper finally stopped looking tortured, and she nodded, her expression blank.

Reyna let her go, and Piper stood straight, and walked over to Jason. She still looked really beautiful, as if she hadn't just been dragged through the ground.

Percy looked confused, and he realized the image had been closed.

Piper got up really close to Jason, and Jason's hands started to sweat.

_She's just a girl, she's just a girl, she's just a girl, she's just a girl! _Jason thought frantically, as Piper looked into his eyes. For some reason, though, he couldn't look away.

Now, he realized why Piper was so dangerous. Piper was a charm-speaker, which is why Gaea wanted her so bad. She could turn the world.

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><p><strong>Let's hope you all know what charm-speakers are, OK? Well, let me see... <strong>

**Charm-speaker (Adjective): A daughter of Aphrodite who has the gift of talking to the opposite gender in a very sueducing fashion, causing the target to follow the will of the speaker **

**I hope that's accurate enough for you all! Please correct me if I'm wrong in the comments! Bye! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi, sorry that this one is barely actioney, but CHAPTER 10 WILL BE BETTER! Oh, there's a trick in this chapter! It's in a dialouge of one of the characters! Try to figure it out! It's a hidden message to one of the other characters! I made it pretty obvious of which sentence it was, but see if you can figure out what the hidden message is, and how you figured it out! Hope you have fun!**

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Percy

Percy watched awkwardly as Piper shifted her weight on her front foot, and gently brushed her hand through Jason's golden hair.

_Man, _Percy thought, _I wonder if Annabeth would agree to do something like that for me? _

Gaea laughed, and Jason looked away from Piper, one of his cheeks pressed against the rock, eyes shut tight, as Piper stroked his available cheek.

_Silly boy! _Gaea.

Percy blushed and looked down at his shoes. She'd read his mind, and knew what he'd hoped of Annabeth.

After a short time, however, Percy looked back over to Jason, who had somehow started staring into Piper's eyes again.

Her face was expressionless, which somehow made her more beautiful. Percy REALLY wished Annabeth was here. So, he wouldn't do something stupid.

"Come on," Piper coaxed, and even Percy started to sweat.

"No!" Jason croaked.

"You don't even know what I was going to say," Piper laughed slightly, and a small smile flashed her face. But just as quickly, it was gone.

"You want me to join Gaea, and I will NEVER do that!" Jason's voice cracked on "never."

"You see me, don't you?" Piper asked.

"Y-yeah."

"Do I look like I am some mind-controlled being? Do I look like I'm not Piper?"

"You LOOK like Piper, yes, but you're not ACTING like Piper. Well, you're acting more like Piper than you have been in the past couple hours…"

"You see?" Piper smiled, this time full and Piper-ish, "I'm even MORE like myself! See, that goes to show what Gaea is capable of! Now, listen very carefully to my next sentence, because after every _fourth _time you've been hit in battle, I've been hit eight times, yet I go to help you anyway. Here it is: Jason, I hope I'm helping you fight, not for bad, or captured, but for good." That last sentence made Percy skeptical.

"Okay," Piper continued, "I guess we're done here. Choose the right path, Jason. Choose the path of Gaea."

Reyna then walked over and untied Percy.

"You can go, Jackson," Reyna started, but then said, "But don't expect this to be the last time to hear from us."

And just like that, Piper and Reyna started melting into the earth, taking Jason with them.

"Help!" Jason screamed, struggling against the ropes, but his feet were under, and Piper was holding onto his ropes. He couldn't escape. Not with out help.

"I'm coming!" Percy shouted, and he started running to him.

He pulled Riptide out of his pocket, and he uncapped it. Its blade sprung out, full length, and he charged Piper.

Somehow, Reyna leapt out of the ground, and tackled Percy.

He hit the ground hard, smacking his chin against the ground, forcing his mouth shut. The hit of the blow knocked Percy into a half-concussion, but he threw Reyna off, and tried to stab her.

She pulled out her sword, and parried, but Percy just stabbed again, and again, until Reyna smiled and whispered, "Nice match, Jackson, but your efforts were in vain." And she sunk straight through the ground, cackling menacingly, right as Percy's world faded to black, and with one final glance backwards, that Jason and Piper were gone.

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><p><strong>Well, did any of you guys figure out Piper's trick? It was a warning! She phrased it a special way! You guys, go read it over again, and tell me what you think it is in the reviews! Let's see how smart you all are! Read you in the reviews! MERRY NEW YEAR!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I have to thank everyone today, but ESPECIALLY Blondie B. Happy! Why? Because she's the one who gave me the prophecy in the first place! Thank you so much, Blondie, and remember, B. Happy! ;)**

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Percy

Percy woke up with a terrible head-ache, in a bed in the Roman Fifth.

_It was just a dream, _Percy thought as he tried to sit up, _It was just a terrible dream. _

"Guys, guys! He's coming to! Everyone up!" Annabeth.

"Where's Jason?" he asked, needing a good answer.

"That's what we were gonna ask you." Annabeth sounded very defeated.

Percy sat up, and suddenly the world started to spin. Fast.

Percy began seeing spots, and when he stared over at Annabeth, there were four for her and all their faces were covered in black, purple, and blue spots.

He quickly lay back down on the bed, and the spots were gone, and there was only one Annabeth.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, back to her old self.

"Yes," Percy strained, then asked, "Can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure. Alright, you heard him. Everybody out."

_Sure, _Percy thought as everyone was mumbling and grumbling as they left, _blame _me _of all people! _

Once everyone was gone, Percy look up at Annabeth. "What's up?"

"What?" she asked defensively,

"You've been acting strange lately, and I want to know why. Please, tell me." Percy pleaded, and Annabeth sighed.

"Alright, Percy, fine. I'll tell you. The truth is that I was trying to drive you all away so I'd have no friends." Annabeth said, and looked over at him.

"What? Why?" Percy asked, utterly confused.

"So that the Mark would have no one else to hurt but me!" Annabeth exclaimed, and stood up and paced around the room, like Annabeth always did.

"What's, 'The Mark'?" Percy asked.

"The Mark of Athena. Here, listen. The night before we got here, I had a dream about Athena, and she told me I had the Mark. It was pretty much a curse, that only followed daughters of Athena! I mean, sexist much!

"Anyway, I was trying to figure out what the Mark meant from her, when she told me something about great evil lurking in the curse, and no one could save me. Then, she gave me a prophecy. It went kind of like this:

Wisdoms daughter Walks Alone,  
>The Mark Of Athena Burns Through Rome.<br>Deaths Warning Will Wake All,  
>The Warriors of Prophecy Will Answer the Call.<br>Sword and Knife Shall Once Again Slash,  
>Loves Bright and Dark Lights will Clash."<p>

They sat in silence for a while, then Annabeth whispered, "I just didn't want it to hurt anybody else but me."

She started to weep, but then Percy jumped in, "But you could have just TOLD us Annabeth! We would have understood, and-"

"That's what I DIDN'T want!" Annabeth cried, and she began to cry harder, then plopped back down on Percy's bed.

"When you guys, 'understand,' it's when the bad stuff starts to happen! I didn't want you to know because I was embarrassed, and that you guys would have stuck by me, and that would have ruined it all together! I just needed you away, and a secret was part of it."

"Wait," Percy said all of a sudden, "you said there was a prophecy involved. Can I hear it again?"

"Sure," Annabeth shrugged, "It went like this:

Wisdoms daughter Walks Alone,  
>The Mark Of Athena Burns Through Rome.<br>Deaths Warning Will Wake All,  
>The Warriors of Prophecy Will Answer the Call.<br>Sword and Knife Shall Once Again Slash,  
>Loves Bright and Dark Lights will Clash."<p>

"Thanks." Percy said, then asked, "What does the thing about, 'Sword and Knife Shall Once Again Slash?' Who fights each other?"

"I wish I knew Percy," Annabeth sighed, "But I just don't. She left right after she gave me the prophecy. As if it were a recorded message."

"Huh. Well, we'll figure it out. Thanks the Gods that you are finally being honest with me, Annabeth. You ca tell the guys that we're done. Oh, and we should tell them, okay?" Percy asked.

"Sure," Annabeth laughed, "The more the deadlier!" and they laughed together until Annabeth opened the door and Frank fell into the room, nearly smashing a glass cup.

"Were you listening?" Annabeth exclaimed, then turned to Percy, "He was listening! Oh, I'm gonna kill you so hard!" she laughed, and chased the helpless Frank Zhang around the room until everyone was at the doorway laughing.

Percy had to admit that this was a fine moment. A fine one indeed.

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><p><strong>REVIEW! HAPPY NEW YEAR!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, to be honest, this chapter was mainly created to make you all laugh! Laugh a little, it's good for you!**

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

Leo

Leo watched Hazel as she laughed at Frank and Annabeth.

_So, _Leo thought, _Annabeth has some, "secret" to tell us. I wonder what it could be? Wait, moodiness, well, that's the only difference I've noticed, but what if she's having eating issues! Oh my gods! _

Leo watched intently as she sat on Percy's bed and held his hand.

"Everyone," Annabeth looked down at Percy and smiled, "I've got something to tell you."

Everyone was quiet, but Leo was bouncing on his heels and toes, rocking back and forth, then finally he blurted out, "Are you pregnant?"

"DUDE!" Percy screamed, "I swear, if I wasn't bed-ridden, I'd have your head on a stick!"

Leo looked down at his shoes and blushed as everyone stared at him like he was crazy.

Then, Frank laughed for no reason, which drew all the attention from Leo to Frank.

Leo looked up at Frank, and Frank winked at him as he put his head down in, "shame and embarrassment." Maybe he was a good guy after all.

Annabeth cleared her throat, and everyone looked back over at her.

"No, Leo, but I've been cursed. I have the Mark of Athena. My mother told me in a dream. She also gave me a prophecy that I think you all should hear:

Wisdoms daughter Walks Alone,  
>The Mark Of Athena Burns Through Rome.<br>Deaths Warning Will Wake All,  
>The Warriors of Prophecy Will Answer the Call.<br>Sword and Knife Shall Once Again Slash,  
>Loves Bright and Dark Lights will Clash.<p>

So, we need to figure out what it all means."

Percy handed Annabeth a bunch of blank pieces of paper, and some extra papyrus.

She passed out the papers, and everyone sat on the floor.

_What the heck is this? _Leo thought as he sat down, _School? _

Annabeth grabbed a handful of styluses out of a jar and passed them out. She then picked up the jar and filled it with ink and placed it in the center of the floor.

"We just need to think about what this prophecy means, okay?" she took a piece of papyrus and a stylus and dabbed it in the ink. She stuck out her tongue and had begun to write furiously.

"There!" she said, and held up the prophecy. The took a piece of tape, and stuck it on Percy's bed post.

"I need you all to brainstorm ideas, okay? Now, get to work!" Annabeth said.

Leo shot his hand up in the air and but a curious and confused look on his face, like a five year old beginning to learn for the first time.

"Yes, Leo?"

"What's brainstorming, Ms. Chase?"

"Oh, you know what it is!" Leo laughed as Annabeth scolded him, and then he pretended to be ashamed and said, "I wasn't listening to yesterday's lesson."

"What are you talking about, you crazy!" Annabeth grabbed an extra pillow off of Percy's bed and walked over to Leo and hit him with it a few times.

"HELP!" he shrieked playfully, in a little kid voice, "She's beating me! Child abuse, CHILD ABUSE!"

Everyone laughed as Leo began to fake cry, then he stood up and started running to the door. He was fake crying and screaming, and Annabeth was chasing him around. He was enjoying this moment, but he new it had to end at some point, so he dragged it out as long as he could.

"I want my mommy!" he sat down on the floor and started to wail to end his joke, then smiled and said, "And this has been a Leo Valdez production! The Terrible Teacher! Thank you, thank you!" he stood up and took a couple bows, and everyone clapped too loud and over enthusiastically, while some people shouted, "Whoo!" or "Alright, Leo!" and, "A delicacy!"

"Now, let's meet our most amazing actor, Annabeth Chase!" Leo said like a sports announcer and grabbed Annabeth's wrist and pulled her over.

She blushed as everyone clapped and Percy shouted, "That's my girl! Whoo!"

_Man, _Leo thought as he smiled and blew kisses to the crowd, _I _love _getting attention! It feels nice for once!_

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><p><strong>TeeHee! Thanks for reading! REVIEW! REVIEW! AWESOME PEOPLE DO THAT!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, people! Thank you all so much for reading this far into my books, it feels nice to be loved! I'm sorry I lied about chapter 10, it was unintensional. You find out some pretty awesome stuff here, so you should read on! Good luck!**

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Leo

After about two hours, no one could figure out what the prophecy meant.

"It's like they get harder and harder every time!" Annabeth through her stylus down in frustration and picked it back up again.

"Well," Leo asked, "We could pair up and work together!"

"Yeah, okay. Frank, you work with Hazel, I'll work with Percy, and Leo, wait, there's only five of us." Annabeth said.

"Well," Leo asked, "Can I work alone?"

"Sure."

"I'll be out in the hall."

"Okay, then."

Leo stood up and walked out to the hallway, and leaned up against the closed door.

The truth was, he did know what some of the prophecy meant, ACTUALLY, two parts, he just didn't know if he should tell anyone.

He began to write on his paper:

_Wisdom's Daughter Walk Alone: What happens to Percy? _

_The Mark of Athena Burns through Rome: Annabeth might burn down Camp Jupiter, or ACTUAL Rome! _

_Death's Warning Will Take All: Do we all get kidnapped by Death? _

_The Warriors of the Prophecy Will Answer the Call: ? _

_Sword and Knife Will Once Again Slash: What the heck? _

_Loves Bright and Dark Lights Will Clash: Someone's gonna have to reflect on their love life soon… but WHO? _

Secretly, as Leo wrote that last line, he hoped it would be Hazel. Or maybe Reyna.

Leo's secret crush on Hazel is so secret, he doesn't even want to tell HIMSELF! He's so confused.

"Gods, Leo!" he jabbed himself in the forehead with his stylus, "What is the matter with you!" he whispered to himself.

_What am I going to do? _Leo thought helplessly as he slumped and slid farther down the wall.

Leo likes Hazel. Everything about Hazel makes him want to know her better. Her laugh, her kind eyes, her beautiful hair, everything and anything. She's just a turn on, and Leo needed to turn off.

_Frank is, like, one of my best mates! _Leo thought, through and through depressed, _How could I do this to him? _

Leo looked back over at his notes, then flipped the papyrus over and started to draw.

Leo was a pretty good artist, but he didn't like to show it. He decided to play it safe and draw a cool picture, instead of a picture of Hazel, incase he had to turn this in.

He started drawing swiftly, and then cursed a little in Greek. He stood up and took a deep breath.

He opened the door and popped his head in. "Can I get my own thing of ink?"

"I was surprised you hadn't asked sooner! We already made you one! Come here and get it." Annabeth said, holding the small jar of black ink out to him from across the room.

"Okay." So, then began to walk over to Annabeth. He took a swift glance at Hazel then looked away.

He walked up to Annabeth, and right before he took the jar, he tripped on something and fell face first at her feet.

"I'm glad to know that you worship me, Leo Valdez. Now, take the jar and get out of here!" Annabeth smirked, and Leo spun his head around, and saw Percy and Frank laughing, while Frank was holding the end of a trip wire that was tied to the bottom of Percy's bed post.

Leo had just been pranked. He looked down at his shoes, then caught another swift glance at Hazel, who had an apologetic look on her face. That made Leo's heart skip, but he played it safe and nodded at her.

The took the jar and walked out of the room, jumping over the trip wire, and closed the door slowly behind him, Frank and Percy's laughter still raining loud and clear. He needed to get his drawing out. This wonderful picture.

A picture of Reyna.

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><p><strong>YAY, love crisis'! I just can't WAIT for you all to read my next chapter! Well, I have to write it first, so, yeah. Sorry! I'll be quick! Bye! For now, anyway!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, everyone! I just wanted to tell you all something. **

**There was some confusion about who liked who in my last chapter. Leo likes Hazel AND Reyna, he just doesn't know who to choose! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

Frank

_I hate that little weasel! _Frank thought angrily as Leo closed the door behind him, still laughing as if this had just been a friendly prank.

But it hadn't. Frank wanted to humiliate Leo in front of Hazel, and he wanted her to laugh with him! But she didn't!

_I might loose my girl to that weirdo, all because of his dead grandpa! What am I going to do? _

Frank and Percy stopped laughing and continued working, and Frank thought back on his recurring scheme.

_Okay, _He thought, _Get Leo to think I like him okay. Check. Now, I just have to find a way to get Hazel to think he's a fool, or a jerk, or someone who's not good for him, and I'm home free! _

Frank then began to wonder about everything that's happened to him.

_Once, _he started, _I was a clumsy boy who was hiding my self and loving Hazel. Now, what? I'm some big jerk in secret? No, I won't let that happen to me! I'm going to go back to my old self, the one that Hazel likes, and I'm going to give Leo a shot. For real. Forget my plan! It was going to fail, anyway. That's just the kind of person I am! _

Frank looked over at Percy, "I think we really embarrassed him. I'm gonna go apologize. Be right back. I'll bring him out some extra ink, too. Do you think he'll need it yet?"

"Not sure, dude," Percy said, "But you should bring it anyway."

"I think that this is very kind of you, Frank." Hazel crooned and kissed him on the cheek as he stood up. "Be careful."

Frank nodded and he walked over to get the ink by Annabeth, when he tripped and fell.

"Although," Annabeth smirked and showed Frank the end of another clear trip wire in her hand, "Revenge always works, too!"

Frank got up and smiled goofy to everyone, then got some ink and walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

Frank found Leo working on his prophecy, so he sat down and asked, "So, what have you gotten so far?"

"Not much." Leo said, but Frank wasn't so sure.

"I brought you some extra ink." He said shyly, and held it out to him.

"Oh, man!" Leo said, looking up at Frank, "I've needed this for a while, thanks!" and took it gleefully.

"Why didn't you come back in and ask again?"

"Are you kidding? In there?" he pointed to the door. "When the king loses his robes and has no other clothes, does he still walk around naked? No, he hides himself in his chamber and stays there until everyone's gone. So, that's what I'm doing!"

"What kind of metaphor was that?" Frank asked.

"I'm the king!"

"Of what?"

"Pranks! When you all pranked me, you robbed me of my robes! I have no other robes here, people!" he lifted his arms and looked around, just to prove his point.

"Okay, okay, I see, but how did you run out of ink so quickly?" Frank inquired.

"Oh, you know," Leo replied nervously, "The work." And he held up his papyrus.

But, as he but it back down, the wind blew a corner up, and he could see a line and some scribbles.

"What the thing on the back?" he asked.

"What?" Leo asked nervously, "There, there's no thing on the back."

"Come on, man, I won't hurt you if it's Hazel." He meant it, "She's a beauty." He meant that, too.

"Well," he said tentatively, "It's not Hazel, but you can't tell ANYONE who it is, okay? ESPECIALLY not my muse. Do you understand?"

"What the heck's a muse, dude?" Frank laughed slightly.

"The thing the picture's of, okay! Now, just promise!"

"I promise! What is it?"

"See for yourself." He turned the papyrus over carefully, as if his life depended on it, and he saw the most beautiful, realistic picture of Reyna he'd ever seen. Only, she was doing something Frank had never seen her do before. Laugh.

"This is amazing." Frank basted in its glory.

"Yeah. I have a crush on her, too. You can't tell, okay?"

"I won't, don't worry. She'd kill if that happened." Frank and Leo nodded.

"Why can't I tell the guys?" Frank asked suddenly.

"I just, I just don't want them to laugh at me. I like laughing with people, but I hate people laughing at me. Weird for the king of pranks, huh?"

"Nah," Frank said, suddenly understanding, "That's just why you needed to become king."

"Exactly," Leo said, then smiled, "You're a really good friend. You know that?"

"I do now." They smiled, and then everything went from good, too bad.

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><p><strong>TADA! More to come, I PROMISE! Bye!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, hey, hey, y'all! I'm sick to my stomach, so I'm at home, and I HATE IT SO MUCH! Grrr... **

**Oh, and just so you all know, Frank is NOT going evil on ANYONE, okay? Great! Happy times, happy times...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

Frank

The floor began swirling underneath Frank and Leo, pulling them under, like a whirl pool. Only, fast.

They weren't spinning, but they were sinking too fast to comprehend. Frank really only noticed that this was bad when Leo went under, screaming.

"Leo!" Frank shouted, and tried to fight his way over to Leo, who was only two feet away.

Despite his efforts, though, Frank's struggles only made him sink faster, which made Frank scream, too.

"Help!" Frank shouted, "HELP!"

There was a loud bang on the door from the inside, but the door only shook.

"I can't get out! Frank, Leo, what's happening? Are you being attacked?" Annabeth shouted from behind the door, with the door knob wiggling furiously.

"I'm not being attacked, the door shouldn't be locked, and Leo's head is under the floor! Actually, ALL of Leo is under the floor! HELP US!" Frank shouted.

"We can't get out!" Hazel yelled from inside.

"Why not?" then Frank noticed the whirling floor was spinning underneath the door as well, probably to keep everyone out. They were stranded.

"There must be something blocking the door!" Frank shouted, tilting his head back, so that his face wouldn't go under. He was pretty sure he would die if he went.

Then, two more whirl pools sprouted up in front of Frank, and two, no FOUR people started rising from them, two for each one.

Piper was the first to come up, and she was holding…Jason.

He was tied up, bloody, and bruised, with a gag over his mouth, but he was alive, and that made all the difference.

Frank sighed with relief and shouted, "Guys! Piper and Jason just appeared from the floor! And Jason's okay! Pretty beat up, but okay!"

There were many cheers, and a loud bang against the door as Annabeth groaned.

"We have to get out there and help you…" Annabeth grumbled, then there was another loud thump, but on the floor, and Hazel shrieked. "Annabeth just passed out on the floor! She must have hit her head!"

"Annabeth!" Percy shouted, but then he grumbled, too.

"Guys, I'm the only one up, and I'm scared!" the desperation in Hazel's voice struck Frank terribly, and he struggled again to try to fight.

Frank looked over to the other portal, and Reyna had risen, hold Leo in her arms.

Frank looked down at himself. He had stopped sinking, and had started rising, but only enough so that his shoulders and head were above.

Reyna laughed, and brushed some of Leo's hair out of his face, then turned to Frank, "He's such a jewel, isn't he? Awe, and so cute, too!" Reyna laughed again, but Leo was out cold, his body and hair matted with sweat. "I just wish I could hold him longer! Not." And she dropped her arms, and Leo fell to the floor with a loud thump!

Hazel shrieked again. "Frank! Was that you?"

"No, I'm okay! It was Leo! And Reyna. And Piper."

Hazel sighed, then asked, "What do they want?"

"I don't know." Was what Frank said.

There was silence from the other room, and he hoped Hazel was okay.

"What do you want with us?" Frank shouted at Piper and Reyna, but they only laughed.

"Tell me now, or I swear I'll punch your lights out!" Frank spat.

"Oh, shut up, Frank!" Piper said, and she walked over to him, letting go of Jason, who fell to the floor, as well.

Hazel shrieked again.

Piper ignored her, though, and she knelt down very close to Frank's face. "We want you all to fail. Gaea has me. There is no way you can win." She stood back up, and walked over to where Jason had fallen.

"Frank, why don't you just, take a nap." Piper flicked her wrist, and suddenly, Frank felt very sleepy.

"Frank?" Hazel said quietly.

When he didn't respond, however, she started shouting, "Frank! FRANK!" and slamming herself against the door, but Frank could barely keep his eyes open.

She started crying and screaming, "FRANK!" and slamming herself against the door.

Frank's eyes closed, and all he heard was the crazy laughter of Reyna and Piper, and the terrible cries from Hazel.

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><p><strong>Well, gosh, that was not the happiest chapter ever... PLEASE REVIEW! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! COOL PEOPLE DO THAT! ARE YOU COOL OR NOT? LET'S FIND OUT! REVIEW! ;)!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, you all! Hope you guys like suprises! And some vomit... And Octavian, because he's here, too! Happy reading! And review! **

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><p>Chapter 15<p>

Annabeth

Annabeth woke up with a really bad head-ache.

She stood up, and immediately hunched over and threw up.

There was a shuffling sound, like something moving under a bed sheet, and then Percy said, "That, that's really gross."

Annabeth looked over at him, and he was sitting up on the bed, looking at the pile in disgust. Then he looked up at her and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I think," Annabeth started, "That I need to be, wait, what was the question again?"

Percy chuckled. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah." Annabeth straightened up, then said, "When I'd thrown myself against the door earlier, I guess it triggered something. No. Big. Deal." Annabeth suddenly felt very sleepy, and she sat down next to the puddle. "Where's. Where's…"

"Hazel?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Where she be?" Annabeth looked over at him, very tired.

"Well, I'm pretty sure she's hiding in that closet over there." Percy pointed in the direction of the small closet by the back corner of the room. "I saw her run in there when you threw up the first time."

"What?" Annabeth asked, very confused. She didn't remember throwing up before.

"Yeah, about an hour after you knocked yourself out, you woke-up, threw-up, and feel straight back to sleep, hitting your head on the floor again. She shrieked, then screamed, 'Eeew!' and ran into that closet over there. She hasn't come out since. I'm pretty sure that's where she is. All though, I did fall asleep, so, I can't be sure. You should go check." He concluded.

Annabeth got up shakily, but after leaning on a couple bed posts, she made her way to the closet door.

She turned the knob, and opened the door slowly. She was expecting to see Hazel, curled up on the floor, scared as heck, but instead, no one was there. A small piece of papyrus was sitting under an old box.

Annabeth picked up the papyrus, and in big letters, it read: _**Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson**_

Annabeth turned the note over, and it read the following:

_Annabeth, your vomit smells gross. Percy, I hate that you have to clean that up. Gone to look for Frank. Do not try to find or follow me. I'm going to challenge Gaea._

_Tell Frank I love him,_

_-Hazel Levesque._

Annabeth ran over to Percy, who was now standing up and leaning against his bed post, and thrust the note in his face.

Percy read the note, and in shock, he sat back down on the bed.

"I don't think that Hazel has any intensions of coming back." Is what Percy said.

"Me neither." Annabeth said, and she sat down on the bed next to Percy and began to weep.

"Hey, hey, hey, you don't need to cry about it! We'll go look for her, okay? We're going to find her, and bring her back. I'm pretty sure I know where Frank and Leo are, but I can't be sure. Why would they stay there after letting me go, I'm not sure, but it's worth a shot." Percy said rubbing her arms.

When Annabeth didn't perk up, he said, "Hey. Hey! We'll find her, okay? We're going to find her."

Annabeth looked up at him and whispered, "It's the Mark. It's ruining my life, and the lives of those part of my life. What happens when it hits you, Percy? What will happen to you?"

"Nothing." Percy stood up triumphantly, then said, "We're gonna beat this thing, okay? And we're gonna beat it together." He held out his hand, and Annabeth took it. She smiled at him as she stood next to him, and whispered, "Okay."

"Annabeth," Percy whispered gently, and turned to face her, cupping his hands around her head, "I love you. And we are gonna beat this thing together." And with that, he drew her in and kissed her, and Annabeth wrapped her arms around him.

They broke apart silently, and Percy whispered, "Okay?"

"Okay." She whispered back.

They backed some pillows, a bed sheet, some food, and their weapons.

They walked up to the door, and Percy asked, "You ready?"

"Ready."

"Okay." He opened the door, and standing in the door-way was, none other than, Octavian.

"Going somewhere?" he smiled wickedly.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun dun duh! Teehee! I hope you like suspence, because I WILL NOT POST THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR TWO DAYS! I want to let the suspence, "settle." BWA HA HA HA HA! Okay, PLEASE REVIEW! AWESOME PEOPLE DO THAT! PLEASE BE AWESOME AND REVIEW MY CHAPTERS! How do YOU like suspence? Mwa ha ha... ;)! Oh, it COULD be longer than two days. Maybe even three... Mwa ha... I don't mean to be evil, but hey, I have a different life, too! I need to do things WHEN I WANT TO! Humph! :(! ;)!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, I guess I over shot my limit. I apologize, and now I have an awesome chapter that ends in an AWESOME cliff-hanger, and by AWESOME, I mean you'll totally hate me for making this such a cliff-hanger. You might want to rip your computer in half after it. That would be really bad, because then you wouldn't get to read the next chapter after! But, the next chapter would have nothing to do with this current senario, but you DO get to talk with Hazel, so yeah. It's a win-lose. **

**Okay, I'm also going to start with something called a Song of the Day. Here's my first ever Song of the Day: Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) sung by Shakira featuring Freshlyground. It's this awesome song that you can find on youtube, but look for the one uploaded by shakiraVEVO. That's the real video, and it's the best quality. **

**Okay, thanks a lot, and The Word of the Day is a new thing, too! Here's the first! Thw Word of the Day: Africa **

**The Word of the Day won't ALWAYS have something to do with the song of the day, but, hey, WHATEVER!**

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><p>Chapter 16<p>

Annabeth

"Actually, yes," Percy said rudely, then added, "get out of our way."

"You can't go anywhere yet, river boy." Octavian laughed and turned around, walking down the hall.

Percy made a lung forward, but Annabeth grabbed his arm quickly and held him back.

"Percy, no!" She whispered fiercely, straining against the strength of Percy.

_Gods, when did he start working out? _

He grumbled, then mumbled something about popping a head like a pimple.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and smiled. _At least Octavian's gone. _

She spoke too soon. He stuck his head in the door way and snarled, "When I walk away, you _follow _me."

"Whatever, Octavian." Annabeth said, and Octavian went red.

"Not, whatever, Miss Chase, no, you say, 'Yes, Octavian'! Now, COME ON!" and just as Octavian left, He stuck his head back in and smiled, "Or should I say, Mrs. _Jackson_!"

Annabeth blushed feverishly, and looked down at her shoes. Percy stepped in front of her and retorted, "You're only making fun because you know you'll never HAVE a girlfriend!"

"SHUT UP AND COME ON!" Octavian shouted from down the hall.

Percy fumed after him, Annabeth at his heels.

_No, Percy, no no no no no no no no, _please _don't do this! _

But Percy walked right up behind Octavian and slugged him in the back of his head, and Octavian crumpled to the ground with a sickening moan and a soft thump.

"Now, did you really have to do that?" Percy mocked, and turned toward Annabeth.

"I was not going to say that!" Annabeth walked over to him and slapped him in the arm playfully and they laughed.

"Well, you still need to get out of your acting groove, then, because that's what you WOULD'VE said! Admit it!" Percy crossed his arms and smiled smugly, leaning against the wall.

"I would NOT have! Don't you make me beat you!" She laughed, and pulled out her knife.

"You wouldn't dare." Percy removed himself from the wall, and tensed up.

"Watch me," and she dashed toward Percy, who had started running wildly down the hall.

Percy ran straight into the door at the end of the hall, but he wasn't fazed as he struggled with the door knob.

Annabeth jumped up on his back, and started slapping the top of his head with her hand.

"Hey, hey, ouch! SOMEBODY HELP ME! ASSAULT!" Percy shouted down the hall, but no one was here but them, and sleeping Octavian.

"I will NEVER let go!" Annabeth roared triumphantly, and she laughed as Percy ran around in small circles in the hallway.

"HELP ME!" Percy shouted playfully again, then he started laughing.

Annabeth was laughing, too, when all of a sudden, Percy did and amazing spin move and suddenly she was clinging to Percy's neck, against his chest.

"That's better." Percy smiled, and Annabeth smiled up at him. "Now I can see you."

Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth, and she carefully placed her legs on the hall floor.

Percy moved his hands from her waist to her arms, and swiftly pulled a fast kiss across Annabeth's lips.

As Percy started to pull away, Annabeth moved forward, to keep it going.

She closed her eyes and moved her hands to his chest, as their kissing turned into a fierce make-out season.

They were on fire, and she never wanted it to end.

Then, she smelled smoke. She opened her eyes, and saw that Percy was literally on fire.

She tried to pull away and scream, but it was like her lips were glued to Percy's and he didn't even seem to notice them.

She tried to push away from him, as the flames shot up his legs and started racing up his chest and waist, but her hands were planted to his chest, and he wouldn't let go of her, gripping her tightly and pulling her closer.

The fire reached her hands and the pain engulfed all her senses as they also raced up Percy's neck and her arms.

She started to cry from the unbearable pain, but Percy's brow wrinkled, as if he was annoyed that Annabeth was trying to squirm away.

He suddenly moved his arms from her waist and firmly planted them on the back of her head, pushing her lips closer to his, as she frantically tried to get him to open his eyes.

Then, the fire reached his lips, and spread on to her's.

She screamed hysterically, and Percy finally broke away from her.

"Don't you love me?" Percy asked; mad as ever, as Annabeth fell to her knees as the fire engulfed her face.

"Yes." She wept, but Percy only shook his head, the fire completely melting him, so he was only a flame shaped as a person, with eyes and a mouth that moved. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't have let this happen."

He fell to his knees, too, and screamed at the top of his lungs, bringing more tears to Annabeth's eyes.

"Percy!" she shouted desperately. "PERCY!"

"I'm DYING Annabeth. This is all your fault. HELP ME!" Percy shouted at her.

"How?" Annabeth wept, defeated.

"Never look me in the eyes again." Percy said grimly, and slowly looked up at her.

"Percy…" but then Percy screamed like a banshee at the sky, then he disappeared like a wisp of nothing.

"PERCY!" She shouted as her last bit of flesh was engulfed by flame, and she felt the evil flames licking up her bones and veins, drinking her blood.

"Percy, help me…" she whispered, and she fell asleep on the floor, feeling like she could never wake up, ready for everything to end.

To just, give up.

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><p><strong>TADA! Commence the ripping! Okay, don't rip it, but please, BE ANNOYED! Be SO annoyed, that you have to tell me about it. In a review. Thank you, and good night. GO GIANTS! AND PACKERS! GO REDSKINS! GO RAVENS! GO MUSIC! GO <span>EVERYTHING! <span>PLEASE READ AGAIN! GO SPORTS! **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey, y'all! It's me! I just want ot thank you all for _OVER 50 REVIEWS!_** **Thank you all so much for all of your reviews! Oh, I'd also like to celebrate _OVER 6,500 HITS!_ Thanks so much you guys! You guys are the best fans EVER! I really hoped you liked that last chapter, and I hope you like this one! **

**Song of the Day: Moves Like Jagger By: Maroon 5**

**Word of the Day: Pickle Nickle (Cause who doesn't like edible money?"**

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><p>Chapter 17<p>

Hazel

_I can't let this happen, no, not now! I can't let him catch me! I need to find Leo! And, Frank! No, no, no! _Hazel thought frantically as she ran toward the small motel on the side of the road.

_Why, why, _why _did I have to leave like that? I nearly lost my Calvary sword fighting that thing! _She thought as she rushed inside the small building and slammed the door shut the door behind her, throwing herself against it, using her weight to keep the door closed.

The doorman looked up at her like she was some weirdo.

"Please, run. I'm begging you, run, please! If you know what's good for you, then you'll-" but just at that moment, the window smashed and gigantic wooden club the size of three of Hazel's heads, with hand-size spikes on the very tip of it.

It smashed against the side of he window, and it nearly smashed into Hazel's rib cage, if she hadn't jumped out of the way first.

She ran up and tackled the doorman over the desk, and she held him down as the giant club smashed through the door, knocking the whole thing down.

Now that the door was down, you could see the lower part of a gigantic leg, a blue skinned leg covered in long, thin brown hairs.

The heel of the foot was covered with calices, and many splinters and blisters.

The leg turned as Hazel got up off the poor man, who had started screaming.

"I'm _so _sorry, but please, PLEASE stop screaming! You need to be quiet and HIDE!"

"When did a huge tree get planted in front of my motel?" He shouted, pointing frantically at the huge leg.

"Um, actually," Hazel said quickly, "I am, um, I'm the building inspector, and, um, I think this tree is going to block business. I'll get a bulldozer out here to take it somewhere else in a matter of two hours, but for now, I'm going to need to see, um, you're ID, birth certificate, driver's license, and I need a check for, um, four hundred dollars to cover the cost, of, exactly, what's wrong with your motel?"

"There's a hole in my wall, can you get that fixed?" he asked.

"Of course! We'll get everything fixed; I just need a check for four hundred dollars, and six hundred dollars in cash. Can you run and get everything for me while I inspect the tree, and the damage?" Hazel asked, talking fast but trying to sound as professional as she could.

She knew it would take the huge monster a while to attack again, especially a small building like this one.

"Yes, of course!" he said reassuringly, but as he turned to go, Hazel heard him mumble, "I hope I still have my certificate on file…"

As the man disappeared into a back room down a small hallway past the short stairwell, Hazel began to hear a loud grown.

Hazel through her hand over her shoulder, and when she thought she was going to grab the hilt of her sword, she grabbed thin air.

_Oh no! Where is my sword? I was keeping it in the tear in the back of my shirt! I haven't pulled it out yet! Where could it be? _Hazel thought frantically.

She turned around, looking everywhere, and she finally spotted it next to where the desk of the doorman had fallen over.

Hazel was just about to run to it, when the club smashed straight into the wall, taking the whole thing down.

Hazel dived over to her sword, grasping it frantically by the hilt, swinging it up in the air, as the huge monster squatted down on the road, looking into the motel.

The monster had a rectangular shaped face, with a mouth half-full of yellow and brown rotting teeth.

It has a really fat, wide, blue nose, and its breath smelled of rotting human flesh, perfume, and tree bark.

While running from the monster, Hazel ran into a small perfume shop, run by three ladies. Hazel attacked him with perfume bottles, smashing them in his face and mouth, breaking some of the more fragile teeth.

He ate the three ladies, leaving only two different high heels behind.

The thought made Hazel shudder, as the huge brown eye in the middle of the Cyclopes' head focused on Hazel. Hazel started screaming and ran up the Cyclopes, sword held high above her head, ready to strike the Cyclopes.

Hazel was much faster than the Cyclopes, so she could strike and dodge without getting hit.

_Here we go. _Hazel thought, as she rushed up to the Cyclopes' gigantic foot covered in brown fungus and green moss.

She let out one more battle cry, then stabbed her sword into the Cyclopes' gigantic foot. Then something that she wasn't expecting happened. Something that swept her off her feet.

Literally.

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><p><strong>Thanks a lot, again! Happy times! <strong>

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, guys! Over 7,000 hits! Thank you all so much! **

**Song of the Day: How by: Maroon 5 **

**Word of the Day: Pickle Nickle (Cause who doesn't like edible money?) **

**PS: That does mean that it's still the same day! **

* * *

><p>Chapter 18<p>

Hazel

The Cyclopes lifted his foot in pain, and Hazel was sent into the air with it.

Desperately clinging onto the hilt of her Calvary sword as she raises into the air, Hazel begins to scream hysterically.

_I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to DIE! _Hazel thought rapidly as the ground soared away from her.

She looked up at the huge monster, and she realized she could still take him.

Hazel tried to pull the sword out from the Cyclopes' thick skin, but it was impossible to remove.

Hazel struggled, but the sword wouldn't budge. Then, Hazel got a better idea.

Quickly, Hazel grabbed the sword and began using her weight to pull it down the sword with in the Cyclopes' foot.

The sword began to follow her weight, and it began to cut down into the Cyclopes' skin.

The beast gave a mighty roar, and then it began to rain.

Quickly, Hazel was drenched to the bone, but she knew she couldn't give up her mission yet.

"I'll kill you, I swear! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!" Hazel yelled up at the beast, but he only roared louder and then lightning started to strike, and thunder claps echoed in the sky, drowning out the cries of the mighty beats.

Hazel put more force on the blade, and it sank lower on the Cyclopes' foot, cutting up more flesh.

Another roar was unleashed, but it was barely audible, because a howling wind began to roar along with it, swaying trees with its mighty force.

Hazel thought that the wind would pass, but it only got stronger.

All of a sudden, an amazingly strong burst of wind made the sword give, and it flew right out of the Cyclopes' foot, taking Hazel with it. The wind blew Hazel around like she was a rag doll. Maybe Zeus have some sort of bone to pick with her or something?

Hazel was spinning and spinning and spinning, doing barrel rolls and summer salts, and Hazel felt like she was in a clothing dryer.

Hazel felt like she was about to barf. She had to get out of the spinning wind! She had to get out of the sky, but what could she do?

_There has to be a way, _Hazel thought as calmly as possible, but as the wind blew stronger, and Hazel was tossed about more fiercely.

_Maybe there's a tree or, a rock, or something that I can grab onto, or maybe- _but her thought was interrupted as her back, the back of her head, and her left hip collided with a rooted tree, near the remains of the old perfume shop.

She slid to the ground as the wind subsided, and she began to see multicolored and black spots, with golden streaks across her vision.

As she shifted between consciousness, a loud booming came up to her, and the ugly Cyclopes knelt down in front of her, cackling horribly.

"Master will be pleased, yes she will. She doesn't need any giants, no she doesn't. I am everything, and so is Eurymedon, her fateful giant son, yes we are." The Cyclopes muttered to himself.

"I think if, 'Your Master'," Hazel started sarcastically, "doesn't need the giants, then why does she have a giant working for her."

"Why, you…" the Cyclopes grumbled, then grabbed Hazel by the ankle and held her upside down, all the blood rushing to her head.

Hazel screamed slightly, but then her head hurt so much she felt like it was growing, or beating.

Hazel began to feel really dizzy, and the spots grew bigger, and bigger, and finally, the Cyclopes cackled in his annoying and gruff voice, "Master will have your head, she will."

And Hazel's world faded to black, the evil laughter haunted her already traumatic sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm watching a very sad show, because three girls are mermaids, and they can't tell anyone, so a girl just lost her boy-friend because of it. Also, there is this psycho girl mermaid who hates them all because one of them stole her boy-friend, so yeah. She's a freak. But, she just lost. Ha-HA! Take that FREAK! <strong>

**Oh, and thank you all for being such great fans! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, with all your hearts! ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Piper POV! I think you are going to find this chapter VERY interesting! Hint hint! **

**Song of the Day: Set Fire to the Rain by: Adele**

**Word of the Day: BFF (Best French Fries) **

* * *

><p>Chapter 19<p>

Piper

_This, _stinks_! _Piper thought as she continued her pacing around the cave.

_I want Jason, Reyna, Leo, and Frank back! _Piper thought sadly as she sat down on the ground of the cave, drawing in the dirt floor with a stick.

There was a tired moan from in the cage above Piper's head, and she jumped up and went back into acting mode.

"Who's awake?" she exclaimed.

"Um, what?" asked a awkward voice that she remembered.

Piper wanted to call out to Leo so badly that she felt like her lungs were burning up.

"Oh," she said instead, pushing her amazing acting forward instead, "It's you."

"Yeah, um, exactly who am I talking to?" Leo asked.

"Piper Mclean. You know, daughter of Aphrodite, charm speaker. What are you supposed to be? I don't even know why Gaea would want you. You're just some weird guy." Piper said smugly.

But, inside, that comment crushed Piper like a boulder. She loved Leo, like a little brother! She hated herself so much for doing this, but she had no other choice.

"Oh, well, Gods, I guess you're right!" Leo said, and Piper perked up a little bit.

"What does THAT mean?" Piper asked rudely.

"I'm just some average Joe Shmoe demigod! Why would Gaea want me? Why don't you let me go, then?" Leo asked casually.

_YES! _Piper wanted to scream, but instead, she said, "Yeah, sure, like THAT'S gonna happen."

"Why not?" Leo asked, casually still.

"I'll tell you," Piper said cruelly, and she walked over and picked up the wooden ladder leaning against the cave wall.

_I just need to see Leo. _Piper thought desperately as she placed the end of the ladder against the bottom rim of the cage.

She began to climb up the ladder, and as she made her way up to the top, she began thinking about ways to apologize to Leo in code.

She got to the top, and sat down on the top rung, looking in at Leo, who as looking out at her.

Leo looked like he had just woken up from a three month sleep, except it had only been a couple minutes.

Leo was staring at her like she was stake. _Gods, _she thought awkwardly, _he's _desperate_! _

"H-hi." Leo said.

Piper looked down at her dark blue bejeweled flats that covered her freshly washed and manicured feet, exposing the top of her foot.

Then, Piper remembered her part, and did something that she wished she didn't have to do.

She laughed. She laughed at Leo. She felt like the worst person in the whole world.

"Are you…" Piper laughed, and Leo blushed, "trying to… flirt… with ME?" Piper laughed even louder, and Leo started to mumble something about wishing his dad was the god of transparency.

"Ah, you are SUCH a fool, Leo Valdez. SUCH a fool." Piper laughed again, and Leo stuttered, "Well, I, um, you just, um, I, um, your dress, um…"

Piper nodded, then looked down at herself.

Piper was wearing a very short, blue jean dress with some pink trimming. She was also wearing a light layer of pink blush and a nice pink eye shadow that covers all of her upper eye lid, and most of the top of her eyes. She was wearing mascara and eye liner, too, a nice thin black.

She'd just had a manicure, too, so her finger nails were a beautiful park pink with white flowers painted on them. Some of the flowers had silver paint in the middles of them.

She looked back up at Leo, and he was sitting on the floor of his cage, staring at her sadly, as if he had just lost a distant friend.

And in a way, he had.

Piper's heart began to break, but she held her ground.

"What do you want?" she snapped, shoving a frown on her face, and that just about crushed her heart.

"What did she do to you, Pipes?" Leo asked sadly, staring at her still.

"She showed me the truth! She let me in! She let me in, after all I did against her!" Piper shouted at him.

_And what I'm _STILL _doing against her. _Piper thought sourly to the cave.

"Um," Leo asked, standing up, "Where exactly _am_ I?"

"You're somewhere, underneath somewhere." Piper said sourly.

"Well, gods, THAT'S not vague…" Leo muttered.

"EXCUSE ME?" Piper shouted at him, and she grabbed onto the cage bars and rattled them hard, shaking the whole cage, knocking Leo off his feet, slamming himself against the back bars, and he let out a small shout of pain.

Piper forced herself to smile and asked sarcastically, "Oh, what's wrong, big shot? Did the metal bars hurt your fragile spine?"

Leo whimpered slightly, but he got up to his feet shakily and muttered, "No."

"Well, we should try again, now, shouldn't we?" Piper asked, and she shook the cage again, and Leo fell against the cage bars again, slamming his back against them.

He let out a more intense shout of pain, and Piper wanted to shout out, help him, heal him, do SOMETHING to help her poor friend with out Gaea knowing.

Piper began to reach her hand through the bars, toward Leo, hoping that Gaea wasn't watching at the current time.

Just as Piper brushed over Frank's foot, Piper stopped herself and remembered, _Gaea is always watching. _

As soon as Piper pulled her hand out from between the bars, the cave rock rolled out of the way, and the Cyclopes that Gaea had sent out about two days ago finally returned, Piper hoped empty handed.

"Master Gaea!" he bellowed.

"Oh, shut it, fat face!" Piper rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not talk'n to ya!" he bellowed at Piper.

_I _HATE _having this fool as my guardian. _Piper thought.

"MASTER GAEA!" he bellowed again, and then a voice erupted through the cave, echoing off all the walls, "_WHAT?" _

"Master Gaea, I have brought you a demigod!" he announced proudly, and he stuck out his hand and bowed.

In his hand, dangling by the foot, was Hazel, unconscious, all beat up and grimy, clothes torn and shoes gone, only wearing one sock.

_Good job, my pet. I shall reward you. _Gaea said playfully.

The Cyclopes looked around, then frowned and scratched his chin.

All of a sudden the enormous Cyclopes caught on fire and was rapidly swallowed whole by the flames, screaming his head off, dropping Hazel in the process.

Hazel landed on the ground with a sickening thump, her head hitting the ground first, her body crumpling on top of her, then falling flat behind her, her body unmoving.

_Is think she's dead? _Piper thought dramatically.

Piper gasped as the Cyclopes' body changed from a huge body, to a huge body shaped flame with eyes, no trace of an actual body left behind.

"I will serve you, Master Gaea." The Cyclopes said in a rough voice, in a trance-like state.

_Gods, this seems scary. _Piper thought.

_Bring me the _RIGHT _demigod! _She hissed.

And with that, the flame bowed and swirled into a wisp, vanishing into a vortex of air.

_Piper, dear, _she hissed, as Leo groaned again, _please, when he comes to, use your talent and have him help you bring Hazel here up with him, and wake up the others. In any means necessary. _Gaea ended with a cackle, and then, she was gone.

_Oh, _she said abruptly, _we have a guest arriving in a minute, and he'll be too weak to walk up that ladder on his own. Have poor Leo help you bring him up, my dear. _

"Of course, you grace." Piper carefully stood on the delicate rung of the ladder and took a careful but full curtsey.

Piper was almost allowed to call Gaea "Ma'am," which was right before being able to call her, "Gaea," which was a huge honor.

She had already passed the "My mistress" stage, the one that Reyna was still on, which made Piper smile.

_I'm in the lead! _Piper thought happily. _I might win Jason! My ultimate prize!_

Gaea had promised Reyna and Piper that the first person who was able to call her Gaea, would be rewarded with Jason as their own, forever.

Piper, deep in thought, nearly missed the slight noise from inside the cage.

_Leo! _Piper thought, and Piper began to hear the skittering foot steps coming to her from across the cage.

Piper suddenly turned around, and grabbed a bar with one hand, and shoved her fist in between the bars, colliding exactly with Leo chest, the force knocking the wind out of him, and sending him flying across the cage, slamming against the bars at the back, six inches off the ground, thankfully on above any of the unconscious bodies that are his friends, except for her, Reyna, Hazel, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase.

Annabeth and Percy were the two people that Gaea really needed. She'd told Piper never to harm them physically. But, she had a very important job to do, that involved crushing Annabeth so hard she'd probably try to kill someone.

"Leo, dear," Piper said, looking over at him, "Could you stand up please."

Leo stood up, and walked over to the cage bars near Piper's ladder.

_I know this is an act. _Piper thought as she looked into Leo's face.

She simply looked into Leo's eyes, and brought her hands through the bars and began to stroke his cheek, then lightly whispered, "Will you help me out and bring Hazel up here with me?"

Leo's pupils grew really wide, covering his entire eye, then they went back to normal size and he nodded gently, and he smiled sweetly, and whispered back, "I'd be happy to."

But Piper only sighed as Leo shot down the ladder and picked up Hazel.

There was a sudden burst of light, and Percy dropped to his knees on the floor, then fell over sideways.

Piper wanted to cry out and help Percy up, but she had a role to play, and Percy wasn't in walking condition anymore.

"Leo, get him too, won't you?" Piper asked sweetly, and Leo smiled and said, "Anything for you, Pipes."

Leo walked over to Percy, Hazel trailing behind him, like a doll.

Leo collected Percy, and smiled eagerly up at Piper, who was still standing at the top of the ladder.

"Can you bring them into the cage up here?" Piper asked sweetly, then added, "Please?"

Leo jumped and ran up the ladder and into the cage, and dropped them down on the floor.

Piper closed the door and locked it behind him, then asked, "Can you wake everyone up now? Even the new arrivals?"

Leo saluted, and looked back at everyone.

Piper turned away and thought, _Why am I doing this? I am such a terrible friend! _

_I don't think I can pretend much longer. I think I might have to actually go over. I can't take this shame anymore. _

_I might just have to go._

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><p><strong>Tada! Okay, I've got basketball practice, so I have to go! Merry School Year! Bye!<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, everyone! HAPPY ALMOST SPRING BREAK/PASSOVER! I'm not Jewish, but I have a friend who is, so, yeah! I've learned some of the holidays for her sake! I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, it's just that I've been really busy. Sorry, this chapter probably sucks, but it's hard to get back in the feel of something after a long time, you know? Well, I'm also sick, so the sickness feels like it's numbing my brain! So, that's probably it. Don't blame me for stinkish writting, BLAME DISEASES EVERYWHERE! Hope you enjoy it, though! **

* * *

><p>Chapter 20<p>

Piper

As Leo kicked everyone awake, Piper watched sadly as Hazel's head jarred to an awkward angle.

_I feel like a horrible person! _Piper thought sadly as Leo started screaming and kicking Frank.

As everyone, including Hazel, began to sit up, Leo crawled over to Piper and put his face up against the bars. "Did I do well, Piper? I really want to make you happy."

"You did amazing, Leo," Piper smiled at him and stroked his face, and as soon as Leo closed his eyes, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

She lifted her hand and slapped him so hard across the face that he spun around and landed on Hazel's leg. Hard.

She screamed, and Piper did the worst thing imaginable. She laughed.

"Oh, has little dead girl have a boo-boo? Do you want Daddy to kiss it for you? What a wimp!" Piper laughed as Jason crawled over to Hazel and wrapped his arm around her.

The worst thing happened next. Hazel began to cry into Jason's shoulder. Piper felt like shoving the ladder over and killing herself.

_That would be the easiest thing to do right now, just kill myself and be done. _Piper thought sadly and Jason looked at her in disgust.

_I guess he didn't decipher it. I guess he doesn't understand. _Piper thought she might cry.

"Well, well, well," Reyna walked out of the shadows of the cave. "What do we have here? A family reunion?"

"Oh, would you just shove it, Reyna? Nobody asked your opinion! Jason would rather talk to me anyway," Piper smiled smugly, truly satisfied by Reyna's evil glare.

"Hi," Leo raised his hand in a kind of salute.

Reyna completely ignored him, though, and Leo started walking around the cage.

"I would rather die than talk to either of then," Jason said to Hazel.

_I CAN'T DO THIS! I HAVE TO DIE! _Piper thought, and she knew that she would have to kill herself now, because she burst out crying.

Jason actually seemed shocked. "Do I mean that much to you?"

"Yes," Piper whimpered.

"Piper," Jason started. "Piper. PIPER!"

* * *

><p>Piper woke with a started.<p>

"Yes," she whispered.

"Sorry, it just seemed weird. You fell asleep I guess or something after you _smacked _me!" Leo said, annoyed.

"Sorry," Piper jumped back into character, "It's just kind of hard to keep watching such boring people!"

Leo growled at her.

"When did a dog join us?" Piper mocked, then asked, "Do you want a dog treat, mister? Huh, do ya?"

"I hate you, Piper, you know I really do!" Leo said madly, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I'm not that bad! Don't worry. You'll see. All in good time," Piper smiled at him, and Leo couldn't help but smile back.

_Well, _Piper thought as she began her descent down the ladder, _at least Gaea will be pleased. _She sighed, as she began walking around the room.

_I can't live with the guilt anymore_, Piper decided, so she did something that made her feel bad about what she did to Leo. "Everybody, SLEEP!"

There were a few thumps on the cage floor, and the cage swung a little bit, so she knew that everyone was asleep.

She breathed a sigh, and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Gaea?" she whispered.

_I'm always here, Piper. You have served well. And I know you are hiding something from me. But, that does not matter now. I am going to guess from the way you are sitting you wish to fully turn. Is that correct? _Gaea asked, obviously enjoying all of this.

"Yes," she whispered.

_And what took you so long? _Gaea asked.

"I was going to try something," Piper started.

_But now you know it is pointless, yes, yes. So, why do you want to join now? _Gaea asked playfully.

"The guilt is eating me alive," Piper whispered.

Gaea was being odd. She was being understanding. This couldn't be good.

"Gaea?" Piper asked.

_Yes? _She responded.

"What is it like to go all the way?" Piper asked shyly.

_You don't lose _full _control of your body, but it dulls your senses, kind of like eating a lotus flower. You can break free, but it's hard, and you really won't want to. It is basically like, being in that state where you are really tired, and you don't know what's going on, but you say yes to everything and do the things you are told. It's actually sort of, "fun." Don't worry, my pet, you'll see. _

"Okay," Piper responded.

But little did she know that she had already started. That she was almost done. That she may never see her friends again. She didn't, but Jason did.

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><p><strong>Okay, so that was chapter 20! Thank you guys for reading and please review and subscribe! Thank you, bye! ;P<strong>


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey, people! Thank you for being so paitent, and I'm really glad that you guys like to read my stories! **

**Song of the Day: Rumor Has It By: Adele **

**Sorry, I really like Adele, if you haven't notcied, and she is really cool to me. I also like Beyonce and Maroon 5, and Micheal Jackson. I really don't care who likes Micheal Jackson. I've actually heard people say they don't like him. My best friend doesn't like him, but you know. Freedom of expression, right? And who can you express to if not your best friend? Maybe your parents... But it all depends on the situation, right? **

**Sorry, I talk too much! I hope you enjoy my work! ;P!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 21<p>

Jason

When Piper shouted, "Everybody, SLEEP," Jason willed himself to stay awake, but she fell onto the cage floor to make his act more believable.

While everyone else took a short nap, Jason slowly crawled to the bars to take a look at what was so important that they shouldn't see.

He saw Piper sitting down, whispering to herself. That's when things became crazy.

After a few short minutes, Piper started lighting up. She levitated, and an extreme light tornado began to erupt around her, but she didn't seem to notice.

Jason watched, awestruck, as the wind and light swirled around her and she kept whispering to herself.

_What's happening to Piper? _Jason thought, worried.

Jason had never thought of Piper as anything up a friend, until, when, he first met her when she thought they were dating, and ever since he'd gone back to Camp Jupiter. He just started feeling, differently about her.

_I will not lose Piper to Gaea, I just won't! I won't be able to forgive myself if I do! If I can stop it, I will. I have to! _Jason thought angrily.

"PIPER!" Jason shouted, and he light dimmed a little bit, but she went on whispering as if she hadn't heard him, and over all the light and wind, she probably hadn't.

Jason started shaking the bars of the cage, which resulted in shaking the entire cage.

He started shouting at Piper and threw everything he had into his voice and strength into his desperate pleas for Piper to hear him.

"What is she doing to you, Pipes?" Jason shouted, extremely worried and scared. "Piper, you can't die! I need you! You can't leave me!"

The wind stopped and Piper started to lower. Had it worked? Was she back? At least she wasn't on fire or dying.

"Oh, Jason," Piper said as she turned, still levitating slightly, turning on the wind. "Did you ever really think I'd be gone?"

Piper didn't sound right. Not like Piper at all. Like, Gaea.

"Piper?" Jason asked cautiously.

"Almost," Piper replied, and then Jason realized. Everything.

Piper just turned over. She had been Piper this whole time. She was being an agent. A spy. What they needed. And he'd turned her away, pushed her along.

"Piper, was it my fault? This situation you're in? Is it my fault?" Jason asked, feeling crushed with an extreme sense of defeat.

"Basically, yes," Piper answered.

Jason began to cry. Not very much, but slightly. "I'm so sorry."

"It could have been different, but it probably wouldn't have been," Piper said, being discreet and unemotional.

"But that's okay, I think you did me a favor. I like it here. With Gaea. You should come with me, Jason. We could be together, forever. Gaea promised me a life of pure happiness. My first step is you, Jason. Join me, please," Piper asked.

"What about someone else?" said a voice from the shadow.

"Can it be?" Jason asked? "Reyna?"

"I think he knows me better than he knows you, Piper. Maybe your paradise is losing hope," Reyna crept our of the shadowy depth of the cave, taunting Piper.

"I know you both, so stop it," Jason said, scared and emotionally weak.

Piper ran up to Reyna and slapped her across the face and screamed, "Can you relax a little? Jason is mine anyway! Cool it and find someone who actually likes you!"

Reyna started to fight back, but she stopped herself before she kept speaking, and Piper seamed to quiet down, too.

They nodded, shook hands, and smiled at each other.

"But it's still a race," Reyna smiled cunningly, and Piper nodded.

_I wish that this had never happened, _Jason crawled away from the cage bars, and shook awake Leo, because he was the closest to him, and Jason needed someone to talk to.

Leo grunted and whispered, "Reyna, I like you, but I like, pumpkin pie, too. Don't stab it, Reyna. Just don't. Not worth it…"

Jason shook him harder and whispered, "Leo, if you can't stay in a dedicated relationship with me, with out looking at pumpkin pie, then we are through!"

Jason snickered as Leo whispered, "No, Reyna, please."

Jason's expression turned from pranks and laughter to seriousness when Leo whispered, "Reyna, I really like you. I always have. Please don't leave me. Ever since I laid eyes on you, I've been debating between you and Hazel. I choose you, Reyna. I love you."

Leo's eyes fluttered open, and he asked, "What's up?"

"You have a crush on Reyna?" Jason asked, shocked.

"Oh shoot."

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><p><strong>Okay, so I'm kind of starting to wait for my next Annabeth chapters to make exciting stuff, and unfortunately, they don't happen for a while. So, yeah, but please bear with me! Thanks guys! PLEASE REVIEW AND <span>SUBSCRIBE<span>!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, everyone, thanks for staying with me so long, and I'm seriously hoping I can make at least 70 reviews before I update again. Wait, that's not fair. Nevermind. Here's what I don't understand, though! I've seen stories like mine with SO MANY MORE reviews than mine, so I'm a little nervous. **

**I understand I'm sort of stuck in a rut right now, but I promise that it gets actiony in chapter 23! Which is next! **

**I'm just a little confused on why people just don't seem to like my work...**

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><p>Chapter 22<p>

Jason

"Dude, do you like her, because dreams don't lie. Usually," Jason said.

"Um, can we change the subject, please?" Leo asked nervously.

"Okay, fine, but don't think I won't bug you later," Jason said numbly as he sat down next to Leo.

"What's up?" he asked, concerned.

"Piper wasn't, well…" Jason started, confused.

"Herself lately? Or, like, the regular nice person she usually is?" Leo said. "But, I'm just spitballing, here."

"Well, I guess now that's true," Jason sighed, then continued, "she was acting. Spying for us. She was doing such a good job, I guess I just couldn't tell."

"Then let's grab her and get out of here! Why are you bummed?" Leo asked excited.

"She just turned over to her side for real! I can't believe she really left us…" Jason sighed again, feeling like mush.

_I miss her already. _Jason thought, depressed.

"Yeah," Leo sighed, and wrapped his arm around Jason, "I guess you don't really appreciate something 'til it's gone, huh?"

"Yeah," Jason sighed again.

"Well, this is going nowhere, huh?" Leo asked.

"What?" Jason asked, shrugging Leo's arm off his shoulder.

"Sulking and being sad that we just lost a friend. We need to be thinking of ways to get out of here. And maybe we can kidnap Piper on the way out. See how Gaea likes that," Leo said enthusiastically.

_That Leo is one crazy kid! _Jason shook his head and smiled as he stood up with Leo.

"Well, what do we do?" Jason asked.

"Wake up people, and find a way to contact Annabeth. I bet you Percy has a way!" Leo gestured to Percy, sleeping on the cage floor next to Frank.

"Alright people, let's go! Get up!" Leo called.

As Leo rounded up everyone, Jason walked back over to the cage bars facing the rest of the cave.

Piper and Reyna had disappeared.

_I wonder where they could have gone…_ Jason thought as Leo tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Everyone's awake and ready for action, sir!" Leo saluted with fake enthusiasm.

"Haha," Jason replied sarcastically.

He pointed to Percy, who was still asleep on the floor and said, "But I think you missed one."

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><p><strong>Tada. The end. Bye. <strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, guys, so, I _think _I might have promised some action, but I'm not sure, but the action starts here, and is spread through out the entire next chapter. So, yeah! Happy reading!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 23<p>

Percy

"Why, Annabeth, why?" Percy asked as he stepped through the void of black nothingness, following the sound of Annabeth's cackling laughter.

"Oh, Percy, I'm coming, don't worry!" she said playfully.

Suddenly, there were hands on his shoulders that started massaging the base of his neck.

"Feels…" Percy muttered, "…Nice…"

"I know it does! I've been practicing!" Annabeth giggled from behind him.

She stopped abruptly and walked in front of him. "Percy, this dream is starting to bug me! I don't act like this!"

"Okay," Percy said, "then act like you."

"Good!" Annabeth said. "Percy, I miss you, and I need you to know this."

"What?" Percy asked, confused.

"I'm coming."

* * *

><p>Percy woke with a start, and everyone was standing over him, except Hazel.<p>

"You started muttering something about feeling nice. We got worried. Percy, there is absolutely _no possible way _to feel _nice _in here!" Leo said.

"Quit your worrying, guys, I'm fine," Percy got up slowly. "But I do have something to tell you all."

There was dead silence as everybody listened.

Percy leaned forward for dramatic effect, and he whispered, "Annabeth is coming to save us."

Just then, there was a loud bang from outside the cave, and a huge rock that Percy had never even noticed, shattered into a million tiny pieces, raining all over the cave floor.

A small figure with anger in her eyes stood at the base of the open hole in the cave and shouted, "Miss me?"

This is one of the reasons why Percy loved Annabeth.

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-da! Sorry, I know, I know, super short! The other chapter will be action-packed and ready to go! I hope you like it! Please review!<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi, guys! Thank you for all the reviews! Now, many people have done this, but I seriously feel totally unappreciated! I have tons of people reading, I know because I check the traffic, but I don't even have 100 reviews! Come on, guys! I'm missing the love...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 24<p>

Percy

"Heck yeah!" Leo shouted down from the dangling cage.

"You know," Frank laughed as Piper and Reyna ran around the cave floor, trying to dodge the tiny rocks, "I'm starting to feel glad that this age has a roof."

"Wait, when did _they _get back here?"Jason asked, confused.

"When did they leave?" Percy retorted, and started shaking the cage bars and screaming for Annabeth.

Annabeth looked up, and she put her hand over her left pocket, and winked at Percy.

Percy didn't know what that meant, but he didn't have time to ask as Reyna charged Annabeth.

"Look out!" he screamed, and Annabeth shifted to the left and pulled out her bronze knife and parried on the second strike.

Percy saw her lips move, but Reyna growled and tried to stab her, but Annabeth parried and kicked her in the chest.

Reyna hit the ground, and Percy could hear the soft boom from up in the cage. She started gasping for breath, as Annabeth ran underneath the cage, looking around frantically for something.

Percy remembered the pocket thing Annabeth did, and he decided to touch his pocket.

A small lump was sitting in his pocket.

_Of course! _Percy thought. _Why hadn't I remembered this sooner?_

Percy pulled his pen, Riptide, out of pocket, and skillfully uncapped it.

The sword shot out to be its full length.

All of Percy's battle tactics flooded back through him, and he took control of the scene.

"Frank!" he ran over to Frank, "Frank, Frank, Frank!"

"What?" Frank asked, annoyed.

"I need to grab Hazel and go bear! Maybe you can break the cage!"

"Of course! Okay, Percy, I'll try!" Frank saluted, and gingerly picked up Hazel.

"OKAY, EVERYBODY, THIS CAGE, I hope, IS ABOUT TO BREAK, SO PLEASE PREPARE FOR IMPACT!" Percy shouted to everyone in the cage.

Thankfully, Annabeth heard it, too, and to Percy relief, she ran out from under the cage, back to the cave opening.

"Okay, Frank, NOW!" Percy shouted.

Percy watched as everyone grabbed the cage bars, and braced for impact.

There was a roar from behind Percy, and as he turned around, a six foot tall grizzly bear was growing.

There was a ping, and screw from the cage hit Frank in the leg, but that didn't stop him, thankfully.

There were four more pings, and the whole left side of the cage broke off and fell twenty feet down to the cave floor, shattering.

Frank shrunk back into himself. "Will that do?" he asked.

Percy noticed he was still holding Hazel. _Was she alright? _

"PERCY!" Annabeth shouted from the ground, and he snapped out of his worrying and went back to battle.

Annabeth threw a wooden ladder up to him, and he grabbed it through the bars before it fell back down.

He skillfully moved it from hand to hand between bars until he reached the open side. He propped up the ladder against the cage floor, and let it drop.

It landed without breaking, thankfully, and Percy began climbing down, swiftly but carefully.

He hopped off and shouted up, "FRANK! THROW ME HAZEL! I'LL CATCH HER, I SWEAR!"

A small stick then flew out of the cage, and it plummeted toward Percy, screaming.

As the figure grew bigger, he realized it was Hazel, and she was screaming, "Percy catch me, Percy CATCH ME!"

Percy ran around, like they do in the cartoons, as he tried to stay under Hazel with his arms out stretched to catch her.

Hazel was surprisingly lighter than Percy had imagined, so when she crashed into his arms, he was able to keep her up.

"Got her! Now, everyone, climb now before they notice!" Percy shouted up.

"Oh, we already noticed," said a voice from behind Percy, and Hazel screamed and Piper tried to stab him in the back.

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-da, suspence! And I promise you guys one thing... I will not add my next chapter until I reach 90 reviews! At least! Thank you. AND I MEAN IT!<strong>


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing! You guys are really awesome! I just switched to Computer Apps Class, so I'm pretty excited about that! I really appreciate all the reviews, and I'm really glad you like my story! If any of you guys have ever heard of the Tiger's Curse series, or have read it, then you should check out my story called, "The Crystal Tiger" I think it's pretty cool. **

* * *

><p>Chapter 25<p>

Leo

After Frank started climbing down the ladder, Leo started thinking about what Jason had heard. He remembered his dream, Reyna and the Pumpkin Pie Predicament, as he liked to call it, and he realized that he needed to make a call. Was it Hazel, Frank's girl, or Reyna, the strict person who never seemed to enjoy anything?

As Leo pondered these thoughts, he was jolted awake by the sound of Hazel's shriek.

"Hazel!" he shouted in unison with Frank.

Leo ran up to the ladder and as Frank climbed faster, Leo grabbed the sides of the ladder, placed his feet on the sides under them, and slide down the ladder, shouting, "Hazel, Hazel, Hazel, Hazel, FRANK LOOK OUT!" Frank shifted and swung to the back of the laddered, holding only to the rungs as Leo slid by with a quick, "Thank you" and he continued with his long chain of, "Hazel, Hazel, Hazel, Hazel, Hazel!"

There was a small scream, and Hazel was suddenly at eyes height with Hazel, but he still had about twenty feet, approaching fast, and as he started falling with her, he realized she'd been thrown.

"Leo, grab me!" Hazel whispered desperately.

Leo decided to be as cunning as possible, so as he extended his arm out to wrap around Hazel's waist as he shifted from both sides of the ladder to just one. He pulled Hazel in close, so she could rest on his chest, keeping in mind all of her injuries.

He looked up at Frank to see if he was looking. He was. He was staring right at Leo, and Leo felt like squirming under his glare, but he couldn't risk hurting Hazel.

He decided to look down and check on her, and instead of seeing Hazel resting against his chest, he saw Reyna, eyes closed, sleeping against his chest.

He blinked, and Hazel reappeared. He'd imagined it.

_Well, I guess that settles it, huh? _Leo thought. _If I can't stop thinking about her, then I guess I love her more than Hazel. Sorry, Hazel, I hope you love Frank as much as he loves you. _Leo looked down at her sadly.

_Well, _Leo thought optimistically, _at least Frank will be happy. _

As soon as Leo hopped off the ladder, and gently set Hazel down against the wall, he heard the loud shout of Frank, and a loud smash as he landed on his back on the cave floor.

He shouted out in pain as Hazel cried, "FRANK!"

As Reyna jumped down from the ladder, she smiled devilishly.

"Oh, is little Hazel upset? Does she want her little Frankie to be okay?" Reyna mocked, then shoved the tip of her sword under Frank's chin. "Because I don't know how likely that's going to be!"

"FRANK!" Hazel shouted again, and she began to cry.

"Reyna!" Leo shouted, totally shocked and confused.

"Oh, shut it, Valdez!" Reyna sneered.

Leo felt hurt, abused, and betrayed. Then he remembered she didn't know he liked her, and that she was currently being controlled by Gaea. Plus, to add insult to injury, she'd made it pretty obvious she likes Jason.

Leo ran up to her, and stole her sword right out of her hand.

Outraged, Reyna screamed, "Give it back or I swear I'll tear you to pieces!"

"You're not strong enough! But I know something to calm you down!" Leo said, and he threw a fire ball, landing only inches from Reyna's heart.

Instead, it landed on her shoulder.

She shrieked in pain as she fell to the ground. Leo stood over her, feeling terrible, evil, and cruel. He needed to get her out of here, without it seeming like he liked her. A hostage. He smiled cruelly as he looked over to Piper, who was fighting off both Percy and Annabeth at the same time, _Or maybe two._

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><p><strong>Okay, thanks! For your awesome work, I was thinking about adding chapters on a frequent scale for a month. For all of April, I will update Mark of Athena every other day. Okay? That gives me a day to think of my other stories and possibly add to those, too. I think I've given up on my GG and my Maximum Ride. Sorry, for those who looked forward to it. Again, I apologize. <strong>

**Please Review and Subscribe, thanks again, guys, BYE! **


	26. Chapter 26

**I'M SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SOS SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY EVERYONE! I really am, it's just my computer started not turning on the day after I made my promise to you guys! I really wish there was something I could do to make it up to you guys, so I decided to progress in my story very far! ENJOY! **

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><p>Chapter 26<p>

Leo

Leo scanned a plan through his mind and smiled devilishly as he looked down at Reyna. "Come with me, or you burn to death."

Reyna scowled at him and she stood up carefully, and Leo held a fireball up to her face. "Now start walking."

Leo lead Reyna all the way to Percy, and Leo used his other hand to chuck fireballs and anyone who came near them, giving Percy a little break.

"Percy, I thought of a plan to get us all out of here!" Leo said as Reyna growled.

"Whoa, is that Reyna?" Percy asked, utterly shocked.

Leo rolled his eye. "Yes, it is, but that's the first part of my plan. Get Piper. Just, sneak up behind her and throw her over your shoulder. The boulder's been blown up. We can get out of here."

Percy smiled and nodded, and Leo believed his plan would work.

Leo turned back to Reyna as he growled at him and he whispered, "Now, I'm going to try a more convenient way to carry you."

Leo swiftly bent over and grabbed Reyna by the hips and picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder.

"Leo Valdez, release me at once!" Reyna hissed viciously as she struggled.

"Why should I?" Leo asked, as he started running back to round up Frank and Hazel.

"What's the news?" Leo asked Hazel, who had somehow managed to drag herself over to Frank, who was mumbling.

"He's fine, nothing broken, he can get up and walk around if he tried," Hazel said.

"Do you think he can carry you?" Leo asked, worried his plan would fall apart right here.

"No," Hazel said, defeated.

Leo heard Reyna snicker, and, frustrated, sent a fire ball running up her pant leg.

She screamed and kicked, trying to escape the pain, so Leo patted it out before it turned her right side into booty-shorts.

Leo started thinking of a new way to get Hazel out of here, because there was no way she could run.

His thoughts were disrupted by Percy, who shouted, "I've got Piper! Let's go!"

I thought clicked in his head and he shouted, "Send Annabeth over here!"

Annabeth came running over and asked, "What?"

"Can you carry Hazel?" Leo asked hopefully.

"I can try," Annabeth whispered reluctantly. "Why can't Frank do it?"

"Because, the can walk, but he can't carry another person. He hurt his back," Leo explained quickly.

"Okay," Annabeth bent over and picked up Hazel, and gingerly placed her over her shoulder. "Let's go. Get Frank up. I'm going to get Percy and Piper."

Leo nodded, and he bent down to shake awake Frank. "Hurry, Frank! Wakey wakey, escape is HAPPENING!"

Frank nodded awake and sleepily said, "Dude, that didn't even rhyme."

"Oh well, I'm not a poet, but GET UP! We're leaving! You don't have to carry anyone, so get up!" Leo whispered harshly.

"Where's Hazel?" Frank sat up suddenly, and looked around, worry written all over his face.

"Don't worry, she's with Annabeth," Leo said as he helped up Frank.

"Okay, but if she ends up getting hurt worse, it's on your head, Valdez," he snarled viciously as he jumped off of Leo.

"Okay, okay, sheesh!" Leo said as Frank ran off toward the exit. _And it's already bad enough that I have Reyna on my shoulder!_

Suddenly, a loud boom rattled the entire cave and Gaea shouted, _No! You will not take them! They are mine! Fight, girls! Fight for our purpose! Fight with your lives! _

Reyna began to struggle violently as began screaming and crying, making it hard for Leo to not put her down, but he knew he was doing the right thing.

He started running toward the hole in the cave, gritting his teeth, trying his best to ignore Reyna's screams of, "No!" and her violent thrashing and her constant sobbing.

Reyna really became a difficulty to hold onto, so Leo shouted, "I need help from someone over here!"

Jason quickly ran back to him and said, "What to I do?"

"Just grab her arms and hold tight to them. We can get out of here quickly if we run in unison." Leo rushed as Jason grabbed and held onto Reyna's arms as she tried to wrench her helpless body away from the boys' grasps.

Soon, Reyna started kicking Leo in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

He went down on one knee and Jason knelt down beside him. "What do we do?"

The shouts of, "Hurry up guys!" from Annabeth and Percy and the sweet and gentle, "You can make it!" from Hazel and the rather awkward, "Just don't get too comfortable!" from Frank made Leo's brain go numb as he tried to think of a new plan.

Out of the blue, something just clicked, and Leo whispered, "Come in front of me and grab her legs."

Jason grabbed her legs, and Reyna began punching on his back, then Leo said playfully, "Oh no you don't!" and told Jason to stay put while he ran backward until Reyna fell off his shoulder, and stretched out her arms to grab onto his shirt.

Leo grabbed her by the wrists and shouted to Jason, "Now let's just turn her over nice and slow!"

They worked together and turned Reyna so her face was facing up instead of down like before.

She struggled uselessly against the boys' strength, but Leo just held on tighter and said, "No matter what you do, we are _not _letting you go!"

Reyna began to cry and she whimpered, "But, Leo, you're hurting my wrists. Please, just loosen your grip a _little_! Don't you have a heart?"

Leo gritted his teeth, and just to make a point, tightened his grip and whispered viciously, "You can trick me no matter what you do! I won't let go!"

Reyna cried out in pain, but it hurt Leo, too. He liked his girl, and putting her through pain made him feel terrible. He just couldn't let his emotions get in the way of their escape.

"I guess you _don't _have a heart, you cruel beast!" Reyna snarled, and Leo squeezed her wrists even harder and she cried out and whimpered, "You're crushing my wrists!"

"GOOD!" he shouted, but he didn't mean to shout. "You're crushing my heart!"

Leo hadn't realized he'd said it until it was too late, but thankfully Jason and the others were too far away to hear him, but Reyna whispered, dumbfounded, "What?"

"I'm not going to explain, just because you might remember it when we fix you. But, if you don't I would be so happy I could die! Wow, I sound like a girl right now," Leo whispered in the end, talking mainly to him.

"Leo, I'm honored!" Reyna batted her eyelashes innocently. "Want to talk about it? I'd _love _to talk about with you."

"But you haven't said you like me back, Reyna. I can't trust you with my heart, because you won't trust anybody with yours. Plus, you're under the influence of Gaea, _and _your in love with Jason, so really, I just can't win here, so why should I try? Every single girl I like is taken or in love with somebody else! I just can't compete with anybody! I'm going to die alone, aren't I, Reyna?" Leo asked pathetically, jogging in time with Jason as they quickly closed the gap between them and the exit of the cave.

Surprisingly, Gaea was silent as they jogged out of the cave, taking Reyna and Piper with them as they thrashed around as best as they could.

Leo complimented himself in his head for the great plan, and got out of the cave with everyone else.

They stepped out into the hard rain that immediately soaked through his clothes, as he tried his best to look around.

When he still couldn't tell where they were, he looked over to Annabeth and shouted, "Hey, where are we, anyway?"

"Rome."

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><p><strong>TA-DA! Again, I'm really sorry, another chapter will be up TODAY! Sorry. <strong>


	27. Chapter 27

**I've decided to make it a priority in life to keep my promises to you guys. So, here it is. My next chapter, all in the same day, LIKE I PROMISED! I'm going to try my best not to skip out on you guys anymore. I'll seriously try. **

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><p>Chapter 27<p>

Frank

Frank heard Leo yell, so he jogged over just in time to hear Annabeth say, "Rome."

_Rome? ROME? _Frank thought desperately. _How can we be in ROME? My girlfriend needs medical help, and we need to un-Gaea-atize my friends! We can't be in ROME! _

Frank heard Hazel gasp from over Annabeth's shoulder, and Frank starting saying, "We'll be okay, Haze, I promise," but he was mostly reassuring himself.

"Okay," Percy said, and Frank could tell Percy was trying his best to calculate a game plan.

"Hey, wait a second," Percy said suddenly, and everyone's eyes fell on him. "How'd we get to Rome in the first place? I remember when Jason and I were both down here, we were below Camp Jupiter's city. Why are we suddenly in Rome? And, Annabeth, how did you make it to Rome in the first place?"

All eyes shifted to Annabeth, and Frank saw her fidget under the everyone's gaze as she whispered, "I don't know how I got here, or how you guys got here, but I had just finished killing a Cyclopes, and I guess I must've fallen asleep in the hallway because I was suddenly standing in a dark room, and Percy was there, but in his underwear."

Frank looked over at Percy, who looked extremely embarrassed, and couldn't help but laugh. Percy scowled at him, then gestured back to Annabeth, who began her story again.

"So," she continued, "like any other person, I started to laugh.

"I guess Percy heard me, because he started searching the black room for me and yelling, 'Annabeth?' over my laughter, so I finally said, 'Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming!'

"Now, Percy must have been controlling this part of the dream, because his clothes shortly reappeared, and I started giggling like some dumb love-sick girl and I started massaging his shoulders."

A couple people laughed and looked over at Percy, but he just said, "I thought it was a dream. Don't blame me."

Annabeth cleared her throat, and we all looked back at her.

"I guess I regained control of the dream, because I was suddenly able to stop myself and scold him, then I told him that I wanted him to know for sure that I was coming to save you guys. At all costs. Then I woke up right here, in Rome."

Annabeth finished, and looked down at her shoes, then whispered, "I almost forgot that I was supposed to save you guys when I woke up."

Frank put a hand over his forehead to keep the pummeling rain out of his eyes as he asked Percy, "So, what do we do now, Purse?"

"I think we should see if anyone has a spare copy of the prophecy with them" Annabeth gently placed Hazel on the ground, "to see if Rome is important in anyway." Percy scanned the crowd, and Annabeth started fumbling around with stuff in her pockets.

She pulled out a small slip of paper and walked over to Percy, covering the small slip with her free hand. "I do. I always have it with me. Just in case. I just felt like someone needed to."

Frank watched as Annabeth handed the piece of paper to Percy, and Frank saw a complete conversation flash between them as their eyes met.

Annabeth stiffened and nodded as Percy raised an eyebrow at her. She handed him the slip and their hands touched. Frank could feel the tension between them.

"Like I said," Annabeth told him, loud enough for everyone to hear, "just in case."

She walked back to where she originally stood, and the rain seemed to beat down on them harder.

Frank looked over at Hazel, who had her hand one hand over her stomach, and her other hand propping her up in a lounging position on the stone ground.

He gave her a look that said, _What's wrong? _

She looked back kind of sad, _Annabeth ran a little bit with me on her shoulder. The only thing she hurt was my stomach. I'll be okay, Frank, really. Don't worry. _

Frank clenched and unclenched his fists over and over. _How bad did she hurt you? _

_Not badly at all, Frank. I just have a small stomach ache. Please, don't be mad at her, _Hazel pleaded, and Frank's expression switched as he nodded. _Okay. _

Hazel looked relieved, and she called over to him in a hoarse voice, "Frank? Come here, please?"

Frank simply nodded, happy to serve Hazel in her time of need, and walked over and sat behind her.

She smiled at him, and as he set up in the lounge position, Hazel rested her head on his legs, and closed her eyes and let the rain fall on her face.

Hazel looked beautiful as the raindrops scattered her face and stuck to her eyelashes and the hair that shaped her face. They seemed to sparkle in the light, and he smiled at her as she closed her eyes.

They rained lightened, and it seemed to just be drizzling on them. Frank felt like he and Hazel were alone in this world, but together, if that made any sense.

Frank was snapped back to reality by Percy. He read the prophecy aloud to everyone.

"Wisdom's Daughter Walks Alone,

The Mark of Athena Burns Through Rome.

Deaths Warning Will Wake All,

The Warriors of Prophecy Will Answer the Call.

Sword and Knife Will Once Again Slash,

Loves Bright and Dark Lights Will Clash."

Percy looked around. "Did anyone hear anything about Rome?"

There were murmurs through the crowd, but no one said anything.

"Of course," Percy sighed.

"Hey," Hazel asked, "what's Death's Warning?"

"Don't know," Annabeth confessed. "But I'd give anything to find out."

"Now, don't say that," Percy said and took a step toward her. "I'd like to know that you wouldn't give one of your friends up for knowledge."

"Anything but you guys. I promise," Annabeth said, but her eyes never left Percy's.

Frank whispered to Hazel, "How much do you want to bet she only means Percy?"

"I don't want to bet at all. I know I'd lose. And that's what scares me," Hazel whispered, her eyes still closed.

"Has anybody else noticed the rain's stopped?" Jason asked.

He was right, of course. It had stopped raining, but there was a light mist in the air.

Frank looked down at Hazel, and she looked like a sleeping angel. The water droplets sparkled like jewels and shone with the colors of the rainbow. He knew she was at peace, and so he was, too.

Leo broke the silence with a saying that shook everyone. "Did anybody else notice that Piper's gone, too?"

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><p><strong>Sorry, this chapter is pretty short, but on word, it was about 3 pages, so. Most of the time I worry about them being too long, my chapters. I think it's more of a relief when it's kind of too short sometimes. But sometimes I want them to be long. <strong>

**Hope you enjoyed my latest chapter! More is on the way, promise! ;)**


	28. Chapter 28

**HEY HEY HEY! I understand that I have some people watching me the perfer not to review. I'm okay with that. I am. But, seriously, WHERE'S THE LOVE? Nlo, guys, serious, it's okay, you don't have to review, but I would like to know what you guys think of my work. Just saying. **

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><p>Chapter 28<p>

Frank

Hazel started to panic as Jason said, "What do you mean, she's gone?"

Frank did his best to comfort Hazel, but he knew she was too worried to be calm, so Frank just rubbed her arm, not wanting to mess up how beautiful her face looked right now.

"What if she kills me, Frank?" Hazel asked, and opened her eyes.

Worry filled every inch of her chocolate brown eyes.

_Huh, _Frank thought. _I thought her eyes were Hazel. I guess I need to pay more attention to my girl-friend. _

Leo said, "I wasn't in charge of her! Percy, when did you put her down?"

Percy looked shocked. "That's the thing. I didn't."

"What?" Frank asked.

"Percy," Annabeth said, but Jason cut her off. "How does someone escape from off your shoulder without anyone seeing or noticing her?"

"Well, your one to talk, seeing that your not holding Reyna anymore, either!" Percy retorted sternly as he pointed to the empty space between Jason and Leo.

"WHAT?" Leo asked as he looked down and around him. Frank could help but laugh.

"Frank, I feel them nearby. They're still here. We just, can't see them." Hazel whispered to him.

"How can you tell?" Frank asked, looking around.

He looked right behind Leo, and he could have sworn that, through the mist, he saw a shadow of a body.

"LEO, BEHIND YOU!" Frank shouted, and Leo whirled around just in time to see Reyna leaping out from the mist, screeching, sword replaced by a knife, lunging at Leo's throat.

Leo swiftly flung his body to the right, and threw a fire ball at Reyna's back when she landed.

The fire singed a hole in her cape, and she screamed as it burned her arm.

There was another screech from behind Frank, and he turned and ducked just in time for Piper to jump over him, and thankfully, Hazel, too.

Piper landed quickly and wheeled right back on them, about to stab them with her knife, when a hand shot out from the mist and grabbed her knife arm, spun her around, and Percy came out of the mist and tackled Piper.

Percy pinned her to the ground, growling, and Frank was suddenly very worried. One name crossed his mind. Annabeth.

Piper smiled, "Well, you wouldn't want a, "certain someone" to walk over here right now, would you?"

Percy faced softened, and for a second, he let his guard down.

In that split second, Piper rolled over and pinned Percy underneath her, and Percy growled, but she just laughed.

Frank started to try to stand up and help Percy, but Piper snapped her head over to him and snarled, "Don't do anything, or Percy will get hurt! You don't want that, do you?"

Piper pulled her knife out of her back pocket and lightly danced it across Percy's cheek as he struggled against her, but to no avail. He was trapped under her wait as she giggled aimlessly.

She put her knife away and leaned over next to Percy's ear, as Frank watched, horrified, but he couldn't do anything.

Piper started whispering. He could see her lips moving, and Percy struggling, but Piper just laughed softly and sweetly.

Frank acted on a split second idea and shouted, "ANNABETH!"

"FRANK, NO!" Percy shouted, but Piper said, "Thank you, Frank. I knew somebody had to do it sooner or later."

"I'M COMING, PERCY!" Annabeth shouted through the mist.

Frank could see a rapidly approaching shadow that was Annabeth, running to her boyfriend's side.

"That's my cue!" Piper said cunningly, and dove down and kissed Percy, straight on the lips.

Percy forced his eyes closed and Frank could tell from his expression that he was in pain. He was trying his best not to kiss back. He really was, Frank could tell, but the way Piper wrapped her lips around his, it _looked _like he was kissing back, and Frank was worried he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life.

Annabeth crashed through the mist and looked down in horror at Piper and Percy.

She let out a small cry of pain and agony as Piper pulled away and smiled at him and said in awe, "You, are an _amazing _kisser," as Percy tried to retract as far from her as possible, but Piper just leaned forward more and started kissing his face and laughing. "Trying to get me a better angle, huh? Alright." and she kissed him again, and this time she was basically lying on top of him, with only her knees touching the ground and her hands pinned next to his head.

Frank looked over at Annabeth, and he could basically see the steam coming out of her ears and nose. Her face wasn't turning red, but it might has well should have been. Frank could tell she was bursting at the seams.

Annabeth screamed and lost it.

She round-housed kicked Piper off of Percy, and continuously stomped on her until Percy got up and grabbed her and pulled her back, but only a little bit.

Frank watched in horror as Annabeth screamed and cried, until Percy finally let her go, and she kicked Piper a couple times in the head, and Piper shrieked and cried, but Annabeth just screamed and showed no mercy.

Annabeth pulled out her bronze knife and shouted, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Frank sat up straight and reached out to try to stop Annabeth, but Hazel winced at his movement.

Annabeth screamed and was about to stab Piper, but Percy screamed, "NO!" and tackled Annabeth and pinned her to the ground.

"Let me go, Percy!" Frank heard her say, and she struggled against his grip.

"No!" Percy said again. That seemed to be all he was capable of saying until he asked her, "Why?"

"YOU WERE KISSING HER PERCY!" she shouted, and she literally spit in his face.

Percy starting shaking his head, but Frank couldn't tell if it was in denial, or to get the spit off his face.

Then Percy whispered, "I would never."

"DON'T LIE TO ME, PERCY!" she shouted.

Percy shook his head again, and he shouted at her, "I WASN'T KISSING HER! I would never…" his voice trailed off.

"What?" Annabeth snapped. "Get caught?"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, DO YOU?" Percy shouted at her.

She shook her head, and Frank thought she was trying to tune him out.

"I would never hurt you! She attacked me! She was trying to _get _to you! Don't you see that?"

"What was with the, 'You, are an _amazing _kisser,' Percy? WHAT WAS WITH THAT?" She shouted in denial.

"DO YOU _WANT _ME TO HAVE HURT YOU? DO YOU _WANT _ME TO CHEAT ON YOU?" Percy shouted at her.

"No," she said weakly. "I just…"

She started to cry.

Percy got off her, and she sat up. "I'm going to find her."

"You don't need to," Frank whispered, and pointed at Piper.

She was still where Annabeth had left her.

Percy walked over and picked up Annabeth's bronze knife. He walked back over and gave it to Annabeth, who put it back in her back pocket. "I'll be right back," and she stood up and walked off into the mist.

Percy walked over to inspect Piper.

He winced when he say her.

"How bad is it?" Frank asked.

"Come look for yourself," Percy said sadly.

"I can't," Frank said sadly. "I'll hurt Hazel."

Percy walked over and picked up Hazel. "Now you can go. You need to see this."

Percy sat down and put Hazel's head in his lap. "Go ahead. But, I'm warning you now, it's pretty bad."

As Frank stood up, he nodded at Percy. He turned and walked up to Piper.

Bad was an extreme understatement. Gruesome, was still an understatement. \

Piper had one black eye and one swollen eye. Her nose was gushing and dry blood crusted on some spots under her eyes, and around her cheeks.

Her nose blood was rushing all over her lips, but the amount of blood doubled for how much her lip and some teeth were bleeding.

Her blood was running all down her face and neck, staining the top of her short blue jean dress a deep purple.

Piper was obviously knocked unconscious. There is no way someone could fake this kind of stillness. _Was she even breathing? _

Frank knelt over and put his head in her chest. There was an extremely slow heartbeat. She was alive, but barely.

Frank picked his head off her chest and scanned her for anymore injuries.

At first, he didn't find anything, until he spotted her left arm. There was a deep gash bleeding like crazy onto the grass.

"That's terrible," Frank muttered.

"Exactly." Percy whispered.

"She's dying," Frank whispered, too astonished to show emotion in his voice.

"That's what Annabeth can do," Percy sighed, then started stroking Hazel's hair. "We should go."

"Yeah. Piper needs help."

"Hey, where did Annabeth run off to, anyway?" Frank asked, puzzled, as Percy gave Hazel to Frank and slung the limp Piper over his shoulder.

"Don't know," Percy answered. "But we should heal Piper."

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><p><strong>Okay, Ta-da! This was chapter 28 everyone! I hope you liked it, and, REVIEW! ;)<strong>


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey, guys! I just got these two weird comments from these two girls that I think you might like to read about next chapter. The first one I'll put up here. The second one I'll put on the bottom! **

**Michelle Canada: ****Definitely do Annabeth's POV GREAT chapter.I've never liked Piper,not that im like glad she is dying just...i dunno.**

**UPDATe UPDATE UPDATE**

**So, yeah! Crazy, right? Well, the other one's coming soon! Enjoy! ;)**

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><p>Chapter 29<p>

Annabeth

Annabeth ran through the fading mist, looking for the rock and tree she had hid her backpack behind.

As she ran, she heard a scream, so she pulled out her knife and held it up next to her face.

That's when she saw the dried blood on it.

She screamed and dropped the knife on the ground.

She then realized that she would have to defend herself from whatever screamed first, so she bent down to pick it up.

There was a loud thud and Annabeth grabbed her knife and looked around. She saw Reyna, lying on the ground, bleeding in many places.

_She must be fighting Jason, _Annabeth thought.

As if on cue, Jason came crashing out of the mist into the clearing next to Reyna, holding a gold sword, then looked over at Annabeth.

He flashed a smile at her, then he must have seen the blood on the tip of her knife because his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and said, "Explain later. Get Reyna," and pointed to Reyna's unconscious body.

He nodded and picked her up and flung her over his shoulder.

He jogged up next to her, then they ran together as Jason asked, "What happened?"

So she explained what Piper did and what she did to her. Annabeth wanted to start crying all over again, until she passed the tree with the rock next to it.

She skidded to a stop. Jason ran passed her, then doubled back to see what was up.

Annabeth walked over to the rock and shoved it out of her way. The brown lump of dirt under the rock had been flattened, but she could definitely tell that something was buried there still.

She started shoving her hands into the moist, rich dirt when Jason asked, "What are we doing exactly?"

She stopped digging and looked up at him. "You," she gestured to all of him with her finger, "are holding Reyna. I," she pointed to herself, "am digging up what I buried here so we could survive here!" And she returned to her digging.

"Well!" Jason said, and took a step back, pretending to be offended.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and kept digging, then asked, "Could you round up the others?"

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><p><strong>YAY! <strong>

**This next review is from one of my closest friends, Blondie B Happy! **

**Blondie B Happy: ****THEY. KISSED! !**

**Oh, Blondie B Happy! You make us all laugh! **


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey! For those of you who haven't noticed yet, my chapter POVs have a pattern. Annabeth, Hazel, Piper, Jason, Percy, Leo, Frank, repeat. That's how I've always done it.**

**This chapter was supposed to come up yesterday, so sorry for the delay. This is kind of just a filler chapter, so I could keep track of people better. SORRY AGAIN! ;)!**

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><p>Chapter 30<p>

Annabeth

Jason nodded and ran off, Reyna, unconscious, and bouncing on his shoulder. Annabeth was pretty sure her ribs were going to be sore when she came to.

Annabeth went back to her digging. The moist dirt felt nice on her stiff fingers, but they were still cold.

As she dug through the dirt, she grazed a piece of cloth. _Bingo. _

She grabbed the strap of her red orange and black backpack, and started pulling it out of the hole.

The brown dirt had stained most of the orange a dirty orange color, and Annabeth couldn't help thinking of vomit. _At least the backpack wasn't green. _

Annabeth unzipped the main pouch to make sure nothing had been damaged by the rain. All the food seemed good, even the sandwiches, and all the clothes were dry, although some of them were dirty. Annabeth had packed three changes of clothes for everyone, so the backpack was pretty heavy.

She had brought enough food for everyone to have breakfast and dinner for four days; although she was seriously doubting that they would be here that long, seeing as they didn't need to be.

A sickening thought suddenly shot through her mind, then she remembered something very important about Rome.

At that very moment, Jason came running back with everyone, including the two unconscious escapees, when she muttered, "Rome is where Eurymedon is supposed to rise."

"What?" Percy asked.

"Who forgot we were on a time limit?" Jason said, and raised his hand.

Everyone else's shot up, including Annabeth. "How many days do you think we have left?"

Jason shook his head. "Don't know. Maybe some, but we still have today, seeing that he hasn't risen quiet yet."

Percy nodded, then he looked over at Annabeth. She met his gaze with a glare, and turned to look at Frank and whispered, "You know what happened, right?"

He nodded. "Tell me everything you know."

Before Frank could utter a word, Jason asked, "What were you digging up?"

Annabeth threw the backpack at him and said, "Eat if you want. You guys can change, too, out of your wet clothes. That's all I have, though. I think I packed some nectar for emergencies, but I'm not sure. I know there's no ambrosia, though," and she looked back at Frank.

Frank began telling her everything that happened with Percy and Piper, and about halfway through, he asked, "Can I change and eat and continue later?"

"Fine," Annabeth grumbled, then added, "But only if you bring me a sandwich."

Frank smiled and said, "You bet," and ran off to find the backpack, which was with Hazel.

As Annabeth thought of how Percy had pinned Piper down, she wondered, _how did she end up on top of him, then? _

She scowled and thought of the many possible scenarios, until a shadow cast on top of her.

"I'm already cold," she said to Percy. "You don't need to make me colder by blocking the sun."

"We both know the sun isn't going to warm up the kind of cold you're going through right now," Percy retorted viciously.

A ringing ran through her ears as she analyzed the insult, but just sighed and said, "I'm too mad to deal with you now, Seaweed Brain. Walk away, and maybe we can talk about it later."

"Or," Percy sat down next to her. "We can talk about it now."

"Frank and I are trying to talk, okay? I wanted to hear the story from an unbiased point of view. And," Annabeth continued as she heard him scoff, "I don't want you to go talk to him until he's done talking to me, either, because he has not been tainted yet, and I want to hear the rest of the story knowing I can trust his opinion!"

"But can you?" Percy sighed as he stood up to leave and brushed off his pants. "How do you know I didn't taint him before we came with Jason?" And he walked off, leaving Annabeth upset and frustrated. _How do I know? _

Frank came over five minutes later with Annabeth's sandwich. "Shall I continue the story now?"

"No," Annabeth said, then she told him, "but get Hazel. I know I can trust her to not be tainted."

"Tainted? Annabeth-" but she cut him off by pointing to Hazel who was sitting alone on the wet grass, still in her wet clothes because there was no girl to help her change.

Frank put his hands up in defeat and sighed, "Alright, alright," and he walked over to get Hazel.

Annabeth pondered what Percy had said. Was she being foolish? Was this all some misunderstanding caused by Piper to mess with her heart? _I bet that wasn't the reaction she was looking for, though, huh? _Annabeth laughed to herself.

Frank came back over, holding Hazel in his arms. He sat down and rested her head on his legs, and he whispered, "She'll only do it if you agree to help her change afterward."

She nodded and smiled down at Hazel. "Of course."

So Hazel told her the story perfectly, and Annabeth suddenly felt really bad.

"Can I change now?" she whispered to Annabeth. "I think I'm getting Frank's dry pants wet."

"Sure," and they went off and found a nice tree no one could see behind.

Annabeth carried Hazel from behind the tree and wandered around the group a bit until she found Frank, bumping into what seemed like a dozen people. "Here, have her back now."

Frank laughed and they walked off somewhere. That's when Annabeth noticed the mist had lifted, and the world was clear.

She had to enjoy the scenery some other time, and she ran around to find Percy.

She ran straight into his back.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"I honestly didn't think you were ever going to talk to me again." He sighed.

"I wanted to apologize, Percy, I'm sorry. Oh, and before you ask, I had _Hazel_ tell me the rest of the story, not Frank."

"So?" Percy asked playfully, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile.

"_Hazel _is impossible to taint! She only speaks the truth, so there! What do you have to say to that, Seaweed Brain?" she asked cunningly, mocking him.

He put his hands up and sighed, "Nothing," but then he smiled and swooped down and swung Annabeth onto his other shoulder.

Annabeth started beating on his back and shouting and laughing, "Percy put me down, now!"

He ran over to Leo and flung Piper off of his shoulder and into his arms and asked, "Can you take her for me?"

Leo nodded, wide-eyed, as he asked, "What did you do to her?"

"Annabeth did it, not me. This is punishment. I'll be back," and he sped off in the opposite direction, away from everyone.

She pounded on his back furiously as he ran to a hill away from the city of Rome, and away from everyone. He started running toward a tree, and Annabeth wondered what he was going to do to her with it.

"Guess what I found in your backpack?" he whispered menacingly.

"What?" Annabeth asked cautiously.

"Some rope," and Annabeth's eyes widened. "And I also have a wet sock with me."

The rope, Annabeth was pretty sure she knew what it was for, but the wet sock? _Let's hope he hasn't found a new sock-based weapon. _

Percy slung Annabeth off his shoulder and into his arms.

She whispered, "You know I can get away from you, right?"

Percy laughed. "Sure."

She started to squirm and wiggle, but Percy just laughed, and she got frustrated.

He finally got right close up next to the tree. He held her up to the trunk and pulled out the rope and began to tie her to the tree.

No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't escape his grasp, and the only thing she could think of to do left was distract him. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, as you can see, I'm tying you up, and with the wet sock, well, you'll have to see," he winked at her mysteriously, and Percy couldn't help but smile.

Annabeth smiled, too.

"Why do _you _look so happy? You're the one being punished," Percy tied the knot in the rope behind the tree, so Annabeth couldn't reach it.

She just whispered, "Don't you remember? I have my knife!"

"Oh, do you?" Percy walked back over to her, twirling her knife in his hand.

She growled, then asked, "Fine then, what are you going to do with me?"

"This," he smiled slyly, and he took his wet sock out of his pocket and…shoved it in Annabeth's mouth.

She spit it on the floor as Percy laughed. "You gross moron! What the heck, Seaweed Brain?"

"Didn't I tell you it was punishment!" Percy picked the sock back up, and shoved it in her mouth again.

She spit it back out and growled, "Do it again and I swear, I'll hurt you!"

"How?" Percy asked. "You're tied to a tree, remember!"

Annabeth growled, and Percy shoved the sock back in her mouth again.

Half an hour passed, and after Annabeth spit the sock out, _again_, she asked weakly, "How much longer are you going to keep doing this?"

"Until you hold the sock in your mouth for one full minute," Percy taunted. "I could be here all day. This is fun for me!"

"I'm pretty sure the taste of your wet sock has been branded to the inside of my mouth forever, so it's not so bad anymore," she sighed.

Percy picked up the sock and stuffed it in her mouth on more time, and Annabeth held it there while Percy whispered next to her head things like, "That's been in covering my foot for _days_," or, "Now I guess you could say you've licked my feet," and finally, "I guess I can have you do what I want now, seeing that the power of my stinky, wet, grungy sock can be used at any moment in time."

After what seemed like forever, Percy pulled the sock out of Annabeth's mouth and said, "Congratulations! You've survived your punishment!" and he walked around the back of the tree and untied Annabeth.

As soon as Annabeth could wiggle out of the ropes, she lunged for Percy and pinned him to the ground.

"Now," she whispered as he struggled, "it's time for _your _punishment!" and she kissed him straight on the lips.

Annabeth pressed her lips against his while he struggled until his eyes watered and Annabeth took her lips away.

Percy coughed and said, "Dang, your mouth tastes like onions and fungus!"

"Thanks to your sock!" she said playfully, and she pressed her mouth to his again, breathing into his mouth while he struggled.

She took her lips away again, and he said, "This is really uncomfortable!"

"I could do this all day! I'm having fun!" and she kissed him again.

Annabeth removed her lips again as Percy struggled against her.

"I had to go through a minute of suffering, so do you! But, you can't struggle, or I start over!" she threatened.

Percy closed his eye and whispered, "Fine, but only because I can't move right now."

Percy survived his punishment without too much trouble, and he and Annabeth spent the rest of the day on that hillside, sharing the rest of Annabeth's sandwich.

The sun began to set, and they lay on the side of the hill together, watching the sky change from gray to a hazy pink, then a light pink, and finally orange with clouds lined in pink that made them look like wisps of cotton candy.

Annabeth sighed and moved closer to Percy so their hips were touching. Percy wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. They stayed like that until the sun went down, then Annabeth picked her head up and started pointing at constellations in the sky, and naming random facts about them.

"So," Percy sighed, and they looked at each other.

"What?" Annabeth asked, slightly worried.

"I guess the good and bad of love really clashed today, huh?" he whispered. "Where you really that mad?"

"Yeah," Annabeth confessed. Then, something clicked. "Clashed?"

"Yeah?" Percy asked, confused. "So?"

"So," Annabeth sat up and found the prophecy paper in her pocket and unfolded it. "The last line in the prophecy is, 'Loves bright and Dark Lights Will Clash.' Percy," she looked over at him. "I think we've already completed one line of the prophecy!"

"Already?" Percy sat up and moved closer to her to get a better look at the prophecy. "Do you really think it's that easy?"

"I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe?" Annabeth asked cautiously.

"Well, we should go check with the guys about seeing how we can return Piper and Reyna to the normal," Percy got up and dusted off his pants, then offered her a hand.

She took it and stood up, then they walked back over to everyone else, talking and laughing. She couldn't believe they had fighting only a couple hours earlier.

* * *

><p><strong>Yea, kind of a filler. Sorry. <strong>

**So, earlier today, I had a fight with a question table, and it said I needed serious mental help. Just because I already knew that, doesn't mean it needed to tell me again! X(! **

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I also got my first hater review, from some dude who said everyone was OOC, or Out Of Character. **

**I'd just like to take this time to tell that person something. **

**Thank you! I want my story to be as original was possible! Thanks again! I'm glad you said that! I'm glad to know my goal is paying off! **


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey, guys! Sorry it's been such a long time, but I've been _really _busy. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, it has a weird surprise in it, I just thought I should get the story jumpstarted, you know? Okay, ENJOY! ;P!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 31<p>

Hazel

Having a broken body _sucks_.

Hazel was lying on the ground, her head resting on Frank's lap, and Frank was simply stroking her hair.

Hazel closed her eyes and started thinking about everything. Gaea. The Cyclopes that broke her everything. Piper and Reyna. How were they going to fix them?

Frank whispered, "Hazel, Annabeth and Percy are coming."

Hazel opened her eyes and Frank helped her sit up. At least her butt still worked properly.

"Guys," Annabeth said, excitedly. "I think we've deciphered what part of the prophecy means!"

So, Annabeth and Percy took turns sharing their parts their story, which really only took a minute to tell.

Hazel really only listened to half of it. She was too busy worrying about everything that might go wrong. Little tiny "what if" s where filling her head, but she brushed them aside for the moment as Annabeth finished, "We're just not sure if that was it, or if that was it for _us_, but you guys might have to do go through it, too."

Frank looked down at her. "I hate you."

"I hate you!" Hazel said dramatically.

"But I love you!" Frank said, placing a hand on his chest, and reaching a hand out to Hazel dramatically.

"I love you, too!" Hazel said, being dramatic as well, and then they faked cried together for a minute.

They looked up at Annabeth who was staring at them like they were stupid. Percy was silently cracking up behind her.

"Does that count?" Frank asked sweetly and stupidly.

Annabeth walked passed him, laughing and rolling her eyes, and she playfully shoved him in the head.

Percy, still laughing, jogged after her. "See you, guys!"

"See ya, Purse!" Frank called after him.

Hazel craned her neck to look behind her. Percy and Annabeth were talking about stuff. _I wonder what? _

Frank touched her ear. "What are you thinking about?"

"What it's like to walk again," Hazel said sarcastically, turning to look at Frank again.

"No, really. What's up?" he asked.

"I don't know," Hazel said. "What can we do save Piper and Reyna?"

"That," Frank said, flicking a piece of hair loose from Hazel's ponytail, just to tuck it behind her ear, "is something I don't know how to answer."

"Do you think we even can?" Hazel asked.

"I hope so," Frank said, not really focusing on anything.

"Frank?" Hazel waved her arms in front of his face. He shook his head and looked back at her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he whispered.

"UNTIE ME NOW OR I SWEAR I'LL HAVE GAEA KILL YOU ALL!" Reyna bellowed from the distance.

"This, I have to see," Frank said, and Hazel giggled.

Frank carried Hazel over to the screaming Reyna, who was tied in the sitting position to the base of a tree, Piper right beside her. Only, Piper had a gag over her mouth.

_Probably to keep her from charm speaking us, _Hazel thought as Frank laughed.

"Man," Frank wheezed out. "This is a sight to see!"

Piper arched her eyebrows and stared daggers at Frank, and Hazel squirmed in his arms, nervous for him.

"Laugh now, Frank Zhang," Reyna hissed, "but there will be _no _place for you in GAEA'S NEW WORLD!"

"Can't we just kick them until they come back?" Leo asked, looking at everyone. "This whole, 'Gaea's new world' stuff is starting to freak me out."

"What good would kicking us do?" Reyna asked boredom dripping off every word.

"Well," Leo said, "if we could kick you in the head long enough," Reyna's eyes widened, and Leo smiled, "maybe we could kick the Gaea influence out of you two!"

"You wouldn't do that," Reyna batted her eyelashes at Leo, and he squirmed. "Would you, Leo?" she smiled.

"What does she mean?" Hazel asked.

Leo started to speak, but Reyna cut in, "Oh, he hasn't told you all, has he? I guess not. Leo likes me, and he doesn't like to hurt me." She flashed a smiled at him, and sent him and air kiss, and Leo shivered.

"Dude," Percy walked over and patted Leo on the back while Leo looked at the ground, "If you're going to like her, then…There's no place in this group for you anymore."

Everyone looked at Percy, shocked, and Leo snapped his head up and looked at him. Hazel gasped, "WHAT?"

Percy broke his serious face with a huge grin, and started to laugh. "Guys, guys, I'm kidding! Seriously! I'm just trying to break the tension a little bit!"

"Reyna didn't seem to like it, though," Hazel pointed at Reyna's scowling face.

"Oh well, what do we care? Let's try Leo's idea," Percy smiled, and Annabeth walked up next to him. "Agreed."

Piper's eyes widened as Annabeth stood in front of her. She started shaking her head fiercely, and Hazel could help but feel bad.

Percy positioned himself in front of Reyna, but Hazel couldn't tear her eyes away from Piper's scared face.

Annabeth raised her foot, and stretched it out, and Hazel yelped and shoved her face into Frank's chest before she had to watch.

"It's okay, you can look back now," Frank whispered next to her ear, and she nodded and moved her head away.

"I'm not gonna kick you, Reyna, but just because I don't think it'll work," Percy snarled. Reyna laughed.

Annabeth backed up, and Piper shook her head and looked around. She tried to speak, so Annabeth leaned over and yanked the gag off her face.

Piper croaked, "Annabeth, Percy? Hazel, Frank? Where are we? Where's Leo?"

"Is she playing with out heads?" Leo asked, and stepped out form behind the tree where Piper could see him.

"No, no I'm not…" Piper shook her head. She looked around suddenly. "Where's Jason?"

"Right here," Jason stepped out from behind Frank and Hazel, and Hazel recovered from a small heart-attack. _How long was Jason standing there? _

Piper sighed with relief. "I'm sorry about everything I did! Hazel, I'm sorry! I didn't want to hurt you, I just wanted Gaea to believe that-"

"Wait," Jason held up a hand and silenced her. "How do you remember that you hurt Hazel?"

So, Piper launched into the long story about how she had pretended to be controlled, and soon, she just decided to give in to Gaea because of what Jason said.

Jason looked so apologetic when Piper said that last bit, Hazel was surprised he wasn't apologizing yet.

"And, that's the last thing I remember," Piper finished. "Until now, that is."

"How can we trust her?" Frank asked, which surprised Hazel.

"How can't we?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, I agree with Frank!" Leo walked over and bent real low into Piper's face. "How _can _we trust you, Piper? Maybe, you're charm speaking us _right now_, and you've gotten so good at it, we can't even _tell_!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Leo!" Annabeth shoved him aside.

A small argument broke out among the group, until Jason muttered, "I believe her."

Piper flashed him a small smile, and he nodded. "I'm sorry, Piper."

"And why do _you _so suddenly believe her, huh?" Leo asked in a funny way, to try to keep us all from stressing out.

"Because, I saw her go full Gaea minion!" Jason snapped, and Leo backed away a couple steps.

Jason shook his head and whispered, "Sorry, Leo." He raised his voice again. "She was sitting on the ground, at first then she seemed to be talking to herself, but I realized she was talking to Gaea, and then she started levitating, and a tornado of lights swirled all around her, and that's when I realized she was totally there, and I felt like I had just lost you forever." He looked over at Piper apologetic look on his face, "and now that I know there was something I could have done to stop, I feel awful. I'm really sorry, Piper." He finished his story without ever taking his eyes off her.

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Jason."

He smiled back at her. "I'm sorry."

Hazel felt so touched by this moment, that she placed her hand on the back of Frank's head, tilted it down, and kissed him.

Piper awed, and that was all she could hear, but she really liked knowing that people weren't going to laugh at them.

They broke apart, and Hazel flashed a nervous smile up at him. She really liked Frank, and she never wanted to leave him.

Reyna started struggling against the ropes, and Piper snapped her head around, and shrieked. "WHEN DID SHE GET HERE?"

"She's been here as long as you have, technically longer," Leo sighed.

Jason looked really sad, and really sorry, and Hazel couldn't help but feel bad for him. _I wonder what he's thinking about?_

Jason bent over and untied Piper, while Leo held Reyna to the tree by her shoulders.

As soon as Jason helped Piper stand up, he retied the knot, and Leo let Reyna go and stepped back. He ran away, next to Hazel and Frank, and Hazel giggled.

Jason walked over and placed his arms around Piper's waist. She smiled at him, and only looked sadly at her and he just kept whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

Piper smiled at him, and held his chin with one of her hands. He wouldn't meet her gaze, so she stooped under him and kissed him, eyes closed.

Hazel gasped and smiled. Percy pulled Annabeth closer to him, and Piper just wouldn't let Jason get away.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they just wouldn't break apart.

Percy wrapped Annabeth in his arms and kissed her, too, but they broke apart soon after and started to laugh.

Frank bent down and kissed Hazel again, and they laughed afterwards, too, but their laugh was a soft laugh. A nervous one. It was laugh that Hazel would remember forever. One she would never have to forget.

Leo coughed, put they just wouldn't separate.

Then, Reyna started screaming and crying.

Hazel looked over to check on Leo, and he was smiling, but his eyes said he was heartbroken. The girl he liked was crying because a guy was kissing another girl.

Hazel's heart broke.

"Leo," she whispered apologetically, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he looked over at her, smiling. He was near tears, though. Hazel could see them welling in his eyes.

"Stop smiling, Leo, you're freaking me out. Just, go with a straight face. The tears streaming down your face and the huge smile makes you seem like a psychopath," Hazel cringed.

Leo's smile shrunk, but he laughed a real laugh, though it was a small one, and looked at the ground to wipe his tears away. Hazel felt awful.

"It's just hard when someone you like doesn't like you back. You don't have to worry about it, though," he gestured to Frank. "You're all good."

Before Hazel could answer, Frank jumped in, "If it means anything to you, I thought Hazel didn't like me when I met her. There's always a chance, no matter how slim." And Leo smiled.

Leo walked over and put his hand on Reyna's shoulder, then he sat down right next to her.

She turned her head and started crying into his shoulder.

"They grow up so fast," Frank sighed dramatically, but Hazel didn't feel like this was real.

"Frank," she whispered, "she's playing him. Leo's gonna get his heart broken, I know it. We can't let her get away with this."

"I know, but let's let him be a lady's man for now, okay? We'll stop it before it gets too bad, I promise," Frank winked at her, and she smiled, but she was still worried about Leo.

* * *

><p><strong>YAY! They have Piper back! <strong>

**Disclaimer**

**Leo: WTF!**

**Me: What are you so mad about?**

**Leo: WHY CAN'T I FIND TRUE LOVE? And why does everyone have to end up locking _lips _around me!**

**Me: Gee, I'm sorry, Leo, it's just-**

**Leo: No! You know what _I _think? _I _think that you're just so mad at your brother that you need to need someone to take it out on!**

**Me: She cried on your shoulder, didn't she?**

**Leo: Yeah, but Haze thinks I might get my heart broken!**

**Hazel: It's true, I do.**

**Me: Not. Helping!**

**Hazel: Well! (Walks off)**

**(Yeah, she can walk in the disclaimers)**

**Leo: See! SEE!**

**Me: Alright, alright, fine, so maybe you might, but-**

**Leo: SEE! You HATE me!**

**Rick Riordan: Alright, alright, what's going on here?**

**Me: *Gasp* Rick. RIORDAN? **

**Rick: Yes. **

**Me: *Gasp, shriek, faint***

**Rick: Okay...**

**Leo: (Put's hand on Rick's shoulder) Thanks, Rick. (Holds up body bag) Now help me fit her in here and we can sink her in the ocean!**

**Rick: ...**

**Leo: (Places Me in body bag) Well?**

**Rick: (Shrugs) I got nothing else better to do.**

**Rick and Leo: (Throw the zipped up body bag into the ocean)**

**(Didn't I meantion we were on a beach?)**

**Leo: Aw, yeah, high-five!**

**Rick: Okay. **

**Leo and Rick: (High-five)**

**Rick: Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, my name always comes first!**

**Leo: Yeah!**

**Rick and Leo: (High-five)**

**Rick: Much better!**

**(So, I die in the ocean, while Rick and Leo high-five. Okay then?)**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hey guys, it's me!**

**Look, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a little while. I was having author's depression, because I felt like this story wasn't going anywehere at all. It took some help from my cousin and all of your positive reviews to keep me going! Thank you, guys, seriously, for helping. **

**But I wanted to tell you something. I re-did Chapter 1, which everyone seems to be doing now, so...****Whatever!**

****So, just go ahead and check it out! If, you want. I don't really care. It's really the same, it's just Piper isn't as giggly and what-not. Annabeth isn't as moody. Just, a couple of simple things.****

**So, today, I finished reading The Hunger Pains (and I started it yesterday! :P!), and it is the FUNNIEST book I have ever read! It's seriously funny, so you guys should seriously check it out! **

**Wow. I really sounded like Blondie B Happy right there, didn't I?**

**Anyway, enjoy! :P!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 32<p>

Hazel

Percy filled in Piper about everything that had happened since Gaea's cave while Leo talked with Hazel and Frank, leaving Reyna tied to the tree.

But, he some how, _conveniently_, left out the whole, "Piper Kissing" situation out.

"Percy, you might as well tell her what happened between you two as well," Annabeth said. When Percy opened his mouth to object, she waved her hand at him and said, "I beat her enough for it, I'm good."

So Percy told her about the kiss.

"Oh my gods, Annabeth, I'm so sorry!" Piper ran up to her. "I didn't-"

Annabeth raised a hand to stop her, and smiled at her. "It's okay. I nearly killed you for it, so it's okay."

"What about me!" Percy asked furiously.

"Yeah," Piper turned on him, "but it's _way _worse when it happens when the other person _sees _it!"

"Duh," Hazel said and waved her hand in the air for no real reason.

"What! Fine," Percy said. "Do we know what we're doing yet?"

"Well," Leo stood up. "We have today, and some weapons, and some food, and a backpack. Let's just go now!"

"No, Leo," Frank said, still stroking Hazel's hair. "We need an actual plan. We don't know what he's planning, and we don't even know if a real sword will touch him, let alone _kill _him."

"Hm," Leo said. "What does everybody else think?"

"I, think," Piper pulled Katoptris out of its sheath, "that I need to go kill something."

As if she had predicted it, a twig snapped a few feet away, and a we saw some weird kind of demon run off behind them.

_Reyna!_

"He's going after Reyna!" Hazel shouted, and Percy, Piper, and Annabeth took off after it.

"I have to go help them, Hazel!" Frank said.

"You're just going to _leave _me!" Hazel was outraged.

"No! Maybe? Yes…" Frank replied guiltily.

"Wait, let me just…" Hazel said, and she sat up. Her tail bone hurt, but not so much.

She tried to bend her leg and had to stifle a cry in pain.

"Okay, you can't go, lie back down," Frank said, worried.

"Get some nectar and ambrosia out of Annabeth's backpack," Hazel whispered through gritted teeth.

"Does she have any of that?" Frank asked as he pulled the back toward him and started sifting through it.

After a couple seconds, she pulled out a back full of ambrosia. "Huh, I guess she does." Frank said as he pulled out a square and handed it to Hazel.

Hazel took a bite and took a couple deep breaths.

She bent her leg with ease. She took another bite and took some more deep breaths, and soon she was standing. She pulled Spartus out of its sheath and swung it around with ease.

"It's good to see you back in action, Hazel." Frank whispered.

"I'm just surprised I didn't think of this sooner!" Hazel said and swung her sword around a couple more times.

"Now, let's go!" Hazel turned and ran off to help her friends, Frank at her heels.

Hazel saw Annabeth trying to re-tie the knot on the rope while Reyna struggled. Percy and Piper were trying to hold off the demon, but…something was wrong.

It struck Hazel, and she turned to Frank. "Where's Leo?"

"The demon!" Annabeth said, and they ran over to her.

"What?" Frank asked.

"No, the demon took him! Leo was the fourth one to run here, and we were so distracted by holding off the demon, that we didn't notice him, and then he sunk Leo in the ground over there!" Annabeth gestured with her head to the right of her. "Rescue him, please! And Jason, took, but you might have to dig him out, he was first."

"Um, thanks?" Hazel replied, and the got up and ran to where Annabeth gestured, just in time to see Jason's head go under the ground.

"Aw, there goes my company," Leo said, then he looked up at them. "HELP! YAY! Too bad Jason's gone…"

"Stop talking like that, Leo," Frank said as he and Hazel ran up to them.

Leo was only down to his chest in ground, sinking at a constant speed. Hazel started trying to pull on his shoulders, while Frank was trying to dig up Jason.

Hazel fingers started cramp, and she cursed under breath and gave up.

"Why don't you help me, then?" Frank muttered.

She looked down at Leo. He still had the top of his chest and neck and head.

"Okay," Hazel crawled over to help Frank.

"Ouch, rejected," Leo muttered.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "I heard that."

"Focus, please!" Frank said through gritted teeth as he kept digging.

He had made a two-foot hole in the ground, and Hazel looked over just in time to see Jason's hair go under again.

"I'm just not fast enough!" Frank grunted hopelessly, but he kept digging.

Hazel reached her hands down as well, and they dug together for a couple minutes before all of Jason's head was up.

He was gasping for breath, and his chin started to go under again, but Frank and Hazel kept digging until his whole chest was up. Then they dug until they got his upper arms out. Then, they dug around his arms until they could pull his arm out.

"Help!" Hazel heard Leo scream.

"Leo, I'm coming!" Hazel replied, and she turned around just to see Leo's face go under.

Out of nowhere, Piper flew by and landed on the ground.

Hard.

Hazel crawled over to Leo and started digging for him. She looked over to check on Frank, and he had just pulled Jason out of his whole. He was coughing up dirt and he muttered, "I officially hate dirt. Forever."

"Could I get some help here?" Percy shouted.

"I'm coming, man!" Jason hollered and flipped his coin. It morphed into his Gladius, and he charged over to help Percy.

Frank knelt down beside Hazel, and they dug furiously until the completely dug out Leo and pulled him out of the five-foot hole.

"How tall was the hole?" Leo asked.

"About five feet," Hazel replied. "Why?"

"Am I really five feet tall?" Leo asked.

"Less, dude," Frank said, and turned and ran off into battle as well.

"Now, here's my question." Leo turned to Hazel.

"Okay," Hazel replied.

"What is it with Gaea and her earth vortexes!" Leo dusted his shirt off slightly, and Hazel rolled her eyes and ran off.

"I mean seriously!" He shouted after her, but she ignored him. "Just wake up Piper!" she called back to him.

She was immediately plunged into battle as Jason flew past her and landed on the ground next to her.

"There are actually three demons, so, would you get Piper and Leo in here, too?" Jason asked as he sat back up. "And go help Annabeth, please. Thank you," Jason said stupidly and tried to stab a demon in the back, but it jumped to the side.

_But, I only see one. _Hazel thought as she charged toward the tree.

Annabeth was single handedly trying to fend off the remaining two demons.

Hazel stabbed one in the back and he crumpled to the ground. Annabeth looked up at her for a minute.

Hazel twirled her sword around in her hand. "Need a hand?" she asked.

Annabeth smiled.

A demon was sneaking up on Annabeth. Hazel's eyes widened and she shouted, "Look out!" and Annabeth twirled around and sliced it through its hips.

It fell to the ground and turned into smoke. Then it floated away in the wind.

"Look out," Annabeth twirled around her and stabbed the demon Hazel had stabbed before in the side before he could grab her.

Annabeth was panting, and Hazel was sweating, but she managed to say "thanks," and they secured the main knot in the rope as Reyna struggled.

She kicked and thrashed around a bit, then hissed, "You're not going to make it, demigods! You're too late! We will rise!"

Hazel got so fed up that she left Annabeth to tie a knot in a splitting rope, and stalked up in front of Reyna.

"I'm tired of your negative attitude," she snarled, and kicked Reyna in the face, knocking her out, and, hopefully, breaking her nose.

Annabeth came over and looked at Reyna, whose nose was freshly bleeding.

"Really?" Hazel looked over at Annabeth with a questioning look on her face. "Really what?"

" 'I'm tired of your negative attitude.' That's what I'm talking about." And Annabeth laughed.

And Hazel laughed with her.

Suddenly, Percy came running in, out of breath. "Okay, I'm here to help, we killed out demon." Then, he looked up and around. "Hey, where are your demons?"

"We killed them," Hazel said proudly.

"Yeah, and Hazel knocked out Reyna because she didn't like her, 'negative attitude.'" Annabeth laughed slightly as she went over and hugged Percy.

"Let's just hope I broke her nose," Hazel replied, and looked down at the bloody-faced Reyna.

"I wish I had a camera," Percy said.

"Oh, shut up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied and kissed him.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now," Hazel replied awkwardly and left from the tree.

"Oh, congratulations on your 'walking' thing!" Annabeth called after her.

_At least _someone _noticed_, Hazel thought as she walked over to Frank and hugged him, too.

Piper walked over to Jason and gave him a hug. "I've always wanted to do this," Hazel heard Piper whisper.

"I've always wanted to do _this_," Jason replied, and bent down and kissed her.

Leo looked away, blushing.

"Don't worry, dude," Frank punched him on the arm lightly. "We won't do it. Not until they're done." Hazel smiled at Leo, then smiled at Frank.

"Nah, man, it's okay. I don't want to stop you form being with your girl. You do your thing; I'll just talk to Percy." Leo started to walk away, but Hazel shouted, "Sorry, they're doing it, too!" And Frank locked her lips in a kiss.

"Great. That's just fantastic," she heard Leo say. "Two hours in a row…"

* * *

><p><strong>YAY! Let's just hope Leo and Rick Riordan aren't conspiring right now...<strong>

**I DON'T WANT TO DROWN AGAIN! :P!**

**Oh, and this is the part where most authors ask for reviews, but I've decided to stop doing that. I just like to know that you are reading, so I'll just check my hits and views. Thanks, seriously, for reading this! IT MEANS A LOT! :)!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey, everobody, it's Kimmie G914, updating mroe FREQUENTLY! YAAAAAAAY! XD!**

**Okay, so this chapter is kind of...well, I can't explain it. ****I mean, there's something important that happens, but otherwise...**

**So, it's a filler/importanto.**

**Yes, I said importanto. You should know by now that I make up my own words!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 33<p>

Piper

The kiss was amazing.

Jason's lips were just as soft as Piper had imagined, and she couldn't help but want a little more and lick his lips a little bit.

Jason laughed a little into the kiss, but kept it normal, and Piper couldn't help but understand. It would have been a little awkward for her if someone was that eager on a second/first real kiss.

They finally broke apart and Jason smiled at her warmly.

She laughed nervously and looked away. "Sorry about that," she whispered, and she started to back out of his embrace.

But, to Piper's surprise, he pulled her in closer and actually stroked her cheek. She smiled and closed her eyes, and the whole world just faded away, leaving only Piper and Jason.

And she couldn't have been happier.

"Jason, you don't know how much I've wanted this," she whispered.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that," he replied, and he kissed her again.

It was a little more passionate, but not by much. It was also extremely magical, and when they broke apart, Piper was just about ready to faint.

"You're amazing," Jason smiled down at her, and Piper was amazed by his dazzling smiles.

_I can't believe I hadn't done this until now, _Piper thought to herself, and she smiled at him.

"You have an Aphrodite smile, that's for sure," Jason said, and Piper laughed.

They were shoved back into reality when they heard Hazel giggle and Leo cough.

Jason let Piper go, and, regretfully, Piper back away and turned to her friends behind her, who were smiling awkwardly.

Hazel ran up to her and gave her a hug, while Percy walked over to Jason and lead him off a little bit. "Welcome to the wonderful world of having a girlfriend, dude. You have a _lot _to learn. For starters, don't ever, and I mean _ever-_" but Piper couldn't hear him anymore.

Annabeth walked up to Piper next and smiled at her. "It's gonna be really great, Piper. I know, Hazel knows, it's seriously nice to know someone you like cares."

Hazel nodded enthusiastically. "It's really nice. Frank is really sweet."

"And, sometimes, Percy will bring me little presents. Like, I don't know, just weird things. And, sometimes, at Camp, he'll take me on a really nice ride in the ocean just off the beach. Riding with dolphins, really cool stuff," Annabeth replied.

"Frank will sometimes shoot hearts in trees with his arrows. Otherwise, it's normal couple stuff, like picnics in town, dates in the square," Hazel says. "Those are nice, too."

"Yeah," Piper laughed a little. "And fighting monsters together too!"

"And don't forget," Annabeth added, "saving the world by completely destroying evil titans and Gaea."

They laughed together for a minute. Piper looked over at Frank, who was talking with Leo.

Piper was able to make out phrases like, "…real hottie…not too late yet!...she'll come around." From Leo, and things like, "…stop dreaming…maybe to you!...it probably won't be as easy as…" from Frank.

_What are they talking about? _Piper wondered.

"Okay, it's crucial you let Jason make the first romantic move. I don't know why, it just is," Hazel said knowingly.

"Okay then?" Piper replied slightly confused.

Percy and Jason came back over. "So, that's it. Now, remember, be yourself, and try that technique. Later, though. Not now. Congrates, man." Percy clapped Jason on his back and they shook hands as he finished with his final piece of advice.

"Okay, man, I'll try it. I hope it works," Jason replied weakly.

"Okay," Annabeth said, taking her backpack from Frank, "I suggest we eat now and discuss a strategy. We need to figure out how many days we have left. How many days was our limit again?"

No one answered, but Jason did wrap his arms around Piper, and she leaned against him, smiling.

"Okay, we'll talk about it during lunch," Annabeth said, and started pulling sandwiches out of the bag.

Jason steered Piper away from the group by her waist and lead her toward the hill that Annabeth and Percy had gone down.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked him.

He smiled mysteriously down at her. "You'll see in a minute."

Suddenly, Jason stopped walking and something dark came over Piper's vision, and she was suddenly kind of nervous.

"Don't worry, it's just me. Close your eyes," Jason whispered next to her ear.

She closed her eyes and let him guide her until he took his hands away, and she could heard his shuffling footsteps getting softer, until he said, "Open your eyes."

Piper opened her eyes and she couldn't help but smile.

_A picnic of two sandwiches on the hill side_, Piper thought. _How sweet! _

She walked over and gave Jason a hug. "I love it," she whispered.

So, they sat on the hill together and ate their lunch.

"But, we have to go back soon, because we're discussing battle strategies, so we really don't get much of a moment, do we?" Piper asked.

"No," Jason sighed, but then he looked over at her, and Piper's breath was taken away. "But, we can have this one," and the leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back.

Piper was seriously woozy when they broke apart.

They walked back to the group together, just in time for the start of the meeting.

And, as usually, Annabeth was in charge.

"Where were you guys?" Annabeth asked when they finally got back.

"Just, having a little lunch to ourselves is all," Jason replied.

"Well, sit down, we have a lot to discuss." Annabeth sat back over next to Percy, and they sat down as well.

"Okay," Annabeth started, now that we're all here, let's start. Okay, we need to figure out when the deadline is, otherwise, there's no point. Gaea's really good at distracting people," Annabeth replied.

They all nodded.

"So, how many days are there?" Leo asked.

Everyone glared at him.

"Okay, okay, sorry," Leo said. "Yeesh!"

So, they started doing math, and Percy had to sit back and refocus. Piper crawled over to him for a minute.

"Hey," he said through gritted teeth.

"Trying to read with dyslexia?" Piper asked.

He nodded. "It gives you a _serious _headache," Percy replied. "If only she was writing it in Ancient Greek. _Then _I'd be okay." He grumbled.

"Hang tight, okay?" Piper replied, and she crawled back over to help do math.

After half an hour, they got so lost, because Leo had started dividing by faces.

"So, if we divide the time limit," he scribbled a TL on the page. "And divide it by Gaea's head," he drew a the face of a pretty woman. "Because, we all know that Gaea has ways of editing time to us, we should get…" Leo did the math. "T-12 days!"

Everyone groaned. "Leo," Percy said. "That makes no sense!"

"Believe me, if you let him keep doing the math, your not going to _ever _figure it out," Reyna said from her tree.

"Ouch." Leo said, glaring at her.

She glared at him.

"Why don't we just ask you, then?" Percy stood up and walked over to her. Piper, Annabeth, and Jason followed.

Percy knelt down in front of her, and Piper could barely hear him whisper, "Tell us, how many days do we have left?"

"Surprisingly, Leo was almost right. But, I'm not going to tell you," Reyna smiled.

"We will hurt you," Jason snarled.

"Great. See if I care," she replied.

"We will," Jason raised his foot.

"And turn me back to normal like to did to Piper?" Reyna cocked her head and smiled at her, and she shivered.

"Don't taunt my girlfriend like that!" Jason took at step forward.

"You're a traitor!" Reyna barked in disgust.

"She was controlling us, Reyna! I don't remember any of what happened because I was doing it!" Piper knelt down next to Percy. "You have to understand that. I know you're fighting to get out, because Reyna doesn't believe in this crap. She doesn't take crap from anyone, and she's strong, and brave, and kind, and cool. It's just hard for people to see it, because she doesn't like to let people in.

"But this is why!" Piper continued, surprising herself that she could talk so much about Reyna, though she barely knew her. "She never knows who the bad guy is gonna be next, and that's why she's afraid.

"But the worst part is, is that she's still afraid! And, she's hiding behind Gaea right now, so that way she won't have to be afraid anymore. She's scared of being scared, and I think that's sad. Being scared is just part of life, and sooner or later, you're going to have to trust at least _someone_! And we want you to trust us. Because we aren't the bad guys. You know the bad guy, and if you trust us, you'll be able to tell when one of us goes. Just, com back to us, Reyna. Please."

Everyone was staring at Piper, even Reyna.

"Wow," Jason said.

"Eleven days," Reyna said, exasperated. "Now leave us, no _me _alone!"

"She's leaving you, isn't she, Gaea?" Annabeth replied.

"Go away!" she shouted. "Reyna," she whispered, "she's charm speaking us!"

"Not unless the truth became charm speaking while I was away," she looked at everyone and they muttered in agreement.

"Reyna, we miss you."**(A/N: MY FANS MISS YOU, TOO, REYNA!)**

"NO, STOP!" Reyna shrieked, but then she said, "My friends miss me, Gaea. They're showing me the light, not you."

"But what about everything we've planned?" she said.

"Jason won't be mine, ever, because he loves Piper, and even if we took over the world, I've seen how you treat your slaves. You use them, then you kill them. If I'm going to die, I'm going to die fighting for the right cause, and beside my friends," Reyna whispered, and suddenly, her eyes started to glow a faint purple, and rays of purple light shot out in front of them, and Piper jumped back next to Jason, who wrapped his arms around her waist.

Reyna opened her mouth, and the faint colored light shot out of there, as well. "See, Gaea," she said. "He will never love me, because he loves her. And I'm ready to blame you for it. You stopped me from being able to talk to him. I hope you die."

A shriek escaped from the light, and it faded and disappeared.

Reyna smiled at them. "Hello, everyone. I'm sorry, I actually know what trouble I've caused, because Piper is right. I was hiding behind Gaea's influence so much, that I let a spirit piece of Gaea control me. That's what all that was about. I was watching everything as well, I just couldn't control it. I'm sorry, again." Reyna replied weakly.

"It's all good," Piper replied, and untied Reyna.

When she came back around the tree, Reyna gave her a hug, which surprised everyone.

"You brought me back. I owe you. I'm honestly surprised we barely know each other, after what you said. The weirdest part is that you were totally right," Reyna smiled.

Piper saw Jason run off and come back with the backpack.

"Reyna," he said, and she turned around to face him. He held out the backpack. "Why don't you try being a demigod for once, instead of the president, okay?"

Reyna nodded, and took off her purple cape, which somehow, she'd been wearing the whole time.

_And it doesn't even look dirty_, Piper thought as Reyna folded it and placed it in the bag.

"And," Annabeth walked over to Reyna, "so your hair doesn't get in your eyes," Annabeth handed Reyna a hair tie.

"Let me," Piper said, and she tied her hair back in a nice ponytail.

"I'd like to talk with the girls alone, okay?" Reyna asked.

Percy shrugged. "Okay. Come on, dude," and he dragged Jason off with him. "But we're sending Hazel!" Jason called back.

"Whatever," Reyna called back.

"Good!" Annabeth said.

Piper stared at her.

"She's talking like a normal person, instead of all extremely grammar correct, and never saying 'gonna,' but always going to, and never saying 'wanna,' but always want to. And hardly ever using contractions, to, 'whatever,' in just a matter of seconds! I'm proud of you, Reyna," Annabeth said.

"Huh," Reyna said. "I guess I did say that, didn't I? Well," she smiled. "That's a good start."

Hazel jogged over. "Hey, Reyna, it's good to have you back," Hazel said.

"It's good to be back, Hazel," Reyna smiled, and gave her a hug, too.

They broke apart, and Reyna sat down. They followed.

"Guys," Reyna whispered. "You all know I like Jason, I'm going to guess."

"Yes, that was made very clear to us," Piper said.

"Well, now that he's dating you, congratulations, by the way," Reyna smiled at Piper.

_She's being awfully nice about this_, Piper thought.

And Reyna continued, "I was thinking about the whole, 'Leo' thing, and I was wondering, should I go for it?"

"Yes!" Hazel shrieked.

Everyone looked at her.

"Sorry, but yes, you should!" Hazel replied.

"Well, he will definitely help you become a free spirit, but I think we should loosen you up a little bit, first," Piper said. "Leo is definitely free."

* * *

><p>The girls spent the next four hours teaching Reyna to go with the flow. It even changed the way she held her sword, which let her swing it faster with more accuracy.<p>

"See!" Hazel said. "You can even fight better now."

A couple strands of loose hair fell around her face, and Piper couldn't help but marvel at how good she looked.

_I'm just glad she's going for Leo_, Piper thought.

"I think I'm ready to talk to him, now," Reyna said.

"Only, we have to make a plan," Annabeth said.

"GUYS!" Piper heard Jason yell. "GET OVER HERE!" They all snapped their heads in the direction of his voice. "IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"

And they charged off toward them, running with weapons ready.

* * *

><p><strong>YAY, THEY GOT REYNA BACK! DUH-DUH-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN, EMERGENCY!<strong>

**And I'd like to thank Jimanji the Cynical for giving me something to write about this chapter! **

**Their review: I hope Reyna snaps out of it soon...**

**SO, THANKS FOR THAT! :)!**

**I was stuck in a fut for DAYS trying to think of something exciting to put in this chapter! THANK YOU SO MUCH! **

**Jason: It's not ALL THAT important, it's just a-**

**Me: JASON, NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DON'T TELL THEM! **

**Jason: Why not?**

**Me: BECAUSE THEN THERE WOULD BE NO POINT FOR THE CLIFFHANGER!**

**Jason: But it's just a-**

**Me: NO! Now GO SIT IN THE CORNER!**

**Jason: Fine! (Walks off and sits in the corner)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey, guys, it's me! I'M AUTHORING AGAIN! YAAAAAAY! **

**Okay, so I'm doing stuff today and what-not, and my Aunt just left so I need some time to mourn(don't worry, she just went back home, down in North Carolina! But, she'll be back on Saturday, and my cousin(her daughter!) should be here by then, too, so...it's not so bad, but I'm sad now!), so I probably won't update until Thursday, Friday at the lastest, so EXPECT SOMETHING THIS WEEK!**

**Oh, and seeing that I can't think of anything to put in for next chapter, it'll more than likely be Thursday or Friday. And, yes, I know it's Tuesday! XP!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 34<p>

Piper

Piper couldn't help but stare at the next thing she saw. Standing next to Jason, Percy, Leo, and Frank, was a girl who looked to be their age, but Piper was sure. She'd learned not to trust the looks of anyone.

"Hello, demigods," she said.

"We're not…" Percy started.

"What?" Leo asked.

The girl stared at him.

"What did you just say?" Leo said again, looking at all of them and giving them a look.

"Yeah," Frank seemed to understand. "I've never heard that word before. Maybe in my Greek Mythology class back at school…"

Piper suddenly realized, too. "What does it mean?" she asked. "Do _you _even know?" she coaxed, planting a subtle dash of charm speaking power with it.

"Stop your magic, Piper Mclean," she snapped. "And Leo Valdez," she snapped her head over to him. "Your lying is weak. I could see right through you. Frank Zhang," she turned her head toward him, "your lying is okay, but no one is ever going to take you seriously with that childish face."

"That's what I've always told him," Reyna said, looking Frank up and down.

Frank blushed and looked away, and Hazel to his side and scowled at Reyna, who just looked away in defense.

Piper stifled a laugh and looked back over at the girl.

"Are you a demigod, too?" Jason asked, suddenly all business.

"No. I am stronger. I am, you could say," she smiled. "the second half of the word."

"The way you said that makes you sound like Trivia," Piper heard Leo mutter.

The girl must have heard him say it, too, because she said, "Trivia is the goddess of witchcraft and ghosts. She haunts things. Don't let her name deceive you, Valdez. Your ignorance could be your end."

Piper didn't dare to speak after that last line.

Even Leo was out of comments.

"Okay," Reyna said. "So, you're a goddess. I understand that. But, which one?"

"I know your mother, Reyna. I know you don't know it, but I know her. She likes to talk about you. She just wishes you could be a little less…uptight sometimes. And she also wants you to be less independent," she said, and Reyna looked away.

Piper studied the girl's appearance. She could be any of the goddesses that took place in a young form. But, she was wearing something that gave her away.

"Nike," Piper said finally, looking at the check mark on her shoes. "Goddess of strength, speed, and victory."

"Correct," Nike smiled at her. "You are smarter than your past actions prove, Piper Mclean."

Piper nodded.

"But, Olympus is very mad at you two. Especially you, Reyna, for letting a piece of Gaea's spirit inhabit your body," Nike said gravely. "For these purposes, Jupiter is having serious second thoughts about the gods helping you in your quest."

Piper looked down at her shoes in angry tears. She suddenly felt warm arms around her, and she leaned into Jason's embrace.

"Ugh," Nike replied in disgust. "Girls are so weak these days."

Piper snapped her head up. "So why are you here then? To insult us and tell you won't help us? If that's all, then _leave_!" Piper said through tear covered eyes.

"I wanted to say next that Venus, Neptune, Echo, Bellona, Mars, Vulcan, Minerva, and Pluto all think that that is crazy, so we're going to help you, anyway, as best as we can, demigods. I just don't think the others understand the fate of the human world rests in the eight of your hands. And we actually like the human world," Leo gasped dramatically for no reason as Nike finished her speech.

"What is wrong with him? Please, tell me this isn't what happened to Vulcan's son," she pleaded, and Leo frowned.

"Well thanks for the confidence boost," he mumbled.

"You are very welcome." She smiled at him lamely. "Anytime."

"What are you guys going to do for us?" Annabeth asked.

"Earlier, you guys were complaining about not knowing if a regular weapon would even pierce the Gaea's skin," Nike reflected.

"True," Hazel spoke up for the first time. "So, will it?"

"No." Nike replied bluntly.

"Way to rip the band-aid off quickly," Piper heard Leo murmur.

Piper stifled another laugh and looked off into the distance. The sun was beginning to set.

"But, the other gods and goddesses have sent me here, to give you this," she explained, and she began to pull something out of thin air.

Piper was dazzled by the golden hilt of the Celestial Bronze sword. At the bottom of the hilt was a sparkling red ruby the size of Piper's palm.

Nike turned to Leo. "Your father crafted this sword for this very purpose."

Then she turned to Annabeth. "But you are the one who has to wield it."

Annabeth's eyes grew wide, and she stuttered, "Me?"

"Yes, you. The Mark burns bright in you, but your friends you need by your side," Nike replied sternly.

Piper watched as Annabeth took the sword from Nike, and she turned around and slashed the sword through thin air.

It looked as if it moved like a hot knife through butter. She turned back around and smiled. "I'm just glad I'm good with swords."

She smiled. Then her expression turned serious. "Jupiter is coming. I have to go, now. Follow the light to find Gaea!" she said, and she disappeared.

"Is it just me, or did she just say to follow the light?" Leo asked.

Piper turned to him. "Yeah, he did. So?" she asked.

"Isn't that, like, what Gaea says to all her followers? 'Follow the liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!' Spoooooooooooooooooooooooooky Gaea magiiiiiiiiiic!" Leo said, wiggling his fingers.

"Shut up, Leo," Hazel said.

"I'm serious! Okay, okay, then what _else _could it mean?" he countered.

"I think we'll figure it out when we get to the center of Rome," Reyna said, but she didn't seem right. To Piper, she seemed…distant.

Piper walked over and put her hand on her shoulder. "It's what Nike said , isn't it? About your mother?"

She nodded.

"I understand," she whispered, and Piper walked off.

_So, _she though bitterly as she walked around with Leo and Jason, following Annabeth's instructions and looking for fire wood, _little miss perfect has decided to get her fingernails dirty and actually _help _her daughter, but not because she felt bad, just because she wanted to save the mortal world. Cool, okay, that's alright. Whatever. I didn't really want her help anyway! _

"Hey," someone said behind her, which made her jump. "Are you okay?"

"Jason, I'm fine," she whispered.

"No, your not. You've been dropping and picking up the same stick for the past two minutes. Please tell me what's wrong," he replied.

Piper sighed and turned around. There must have been something on her face, because immediately, Jason walked up and whipped her cheeks and under eyes with his thumbs, cupping her face.

"What's on my face?" she asked stupidly.

"Tears," he replied. Then he kissed her.

"_Really?_" Piper heard Leo say. "Do I _ever _catch a break?"

Jason backed away guiltily and said, "Sorry Leo," while Piper looked at her shoes.

_Thanks a lot, Leo, _Piper thought sourly. _You just ruined a perfect moment! _

Leo turned to looked for more fire wood. Jason gave her a hug and whispered, "Here we go. Come with me," and he stepped away from her, and she smiled.

"There's a world out there, that, we should see," she replied.

"Take my hand," Jason continued, and holding out his hand.

She took it. "Close your eyes," she replied, and she closed her eyes.

"With you right here, I'm a," he pulled her in close to him and he wrapped is arm around her waist. "Rocketeer, let's fly!" he sung, and to Piper surprise and delight, Jason shot up into the air and they rocketed toward the sky.

Their musical moment was over, but only because Piper was awestruck by the beautiful stars. They were getting closer and closer until Jason stopped moving. "I don't want to kill you on our second date," he replied to her questioning glance.

She smiled, but then he said, "I'm saving that for our third, maybe fourth date," he smiled at her, and she rolled her eyes.

_Nice one, Jason. Great way to charm the ladies, _Piper thought.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he started to pull her into flight, and they soared across the sky.

Of course, this wasn't the first time she's flown with Jason. The memories of when they had technically first met filled her head again, and then the fight with the monster on the field trip, and then falling, and then…Jason.

"Hold on tight to me, okay?" he whispered, and she did.

Then he let her go, and she screamed.

"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered quickly, and moved his arm around her waist again. "See? All better."

Then, he started shifting away from her slightly, until they were as far apart as they could go, while holding onto each other.

Piper extended her other arm out to her side and they flew. They did nothing but fly for what felt like hours.

Then, Jason pulled her in again, and they slowly sunk back down to the earth, back toward the problems. Back toward Gaea, back toward worry, back toward loss.

Even though Piper was thinking these things, she was still highly inflated with happiness, and when Jason put her down on the ground, she immediately kissed him, and it seemed that Leo was out of range, because they weren't interrupted.

It lasted much longer than she'd thought it would've, because neither of them wanted to back away.

Regretfully, Piper was the one to back away. Then they walked over to their pile of fire wood that was still mostly there, and they carried the rest of it back to camp.

_Best. Date. EVER! _Piper thought gleefully, her sourness and bitterness gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Wouldn't it be cool if some guy did that for you, ladies?<strong>

**I think so! What's your dream date, boys and girls? I'd honestly like to know, seeing that I don't even know what _mine _is!**

**Okay, thanks for reading! I have to go talk to my cast(the demigods in this book!) to figure out ideas for this chapter. Who knows? There might even be guest stars next time! :P! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hey, guys. Okay, so I'm having an overall good day. I'm sorry I couldn't update this chapter Friday, like I promised, but it is at the very beginning of this week! So, sorry again...**

**Oh, I'll be thanking a review for this chapter's idea, so...I hope you all enjoy it! :P!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 35<p>

Jason

"That was quite a long time getting fire wood, guys. We had to make a small fire that's about to die. Come on, drop it in there," Annabeth said, clearly frustrated.

"Sorry," Piper muttered, but when Jason looked down at her, she was only staring at him and smiling.

Jason couldn't help but smile, too. He felt a little guilty for what happened to Reyna, but he hoped that she might find a way to like Leo somehow. She did seem a lot…looser, to Jason.

Jason was also extremely glad at how his date had worked out with Piper. He had been pretty sure that the whole cheesy "singing" thing would have made her laugh at him, but instead, she went along with it, and he was happy.

So, they made a pretty nice sized fire, and Jason sat down next to Piper, and they sat together, while Annabeth started talking.

"Okay," she said, and looked at everyone in turn. "We have eleven, basically ten days to get to Rome, and kill Gaea."

"It would have been a lot easier when she was still inside of Reyna," Frank muttered.

Jason looked over at Frank, just in time to see Reyna getting up and walking over to him.

She slugged him in the head, and Piper shoved her face into Jason's chest, while he winced and looked down at her.

He looked back over, just in time to see Frank fall down on the ground, the back of his head hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Ooh," Percy muttered, and Annabeth and Percy started to laugh.

"Quit it!" Hazel shouted. "Frank, Frank, wake up!" she kissed him.

He stirred. And sat up. The look on his face was pure hatred. "GAEA!" he shouted. "REYNA CHANGED HER MIND! SHE LOVES YOU, AND IS READY TO BE OBLITERATED! GO POSSESS HER AGAIN!"

"Shut up, Frank, nobody wants to hear you run your baby mouth," Reyna replied dully, acting bored and fazed, even simply checking her fingernails.

But, Jason could tell that hurt her at least a little bit.

Jason couldn't tell if Frank's face was red with rage or embarrassment, but it was definitely tomato red.

Reyna looked back at him, and she turned around to face him. "You know, you kind of remind me of a girl I once knew, only, your just a way better person all around."

Frank's red faded to pink, and he asked, "Really?"

"Yeah. She was a real brat. Her name was Lauren, and we both wanted to go on this quest. Well, no one knew how to handle it, because no one had ever challenged a praetor for anything, so Jason," she gestured to Jason, "came up with an idea to fight for it."

"Oh yeah," Jason recalled. "I remember her! She had these really long fingernails, and she had such a bad temper! She was blond, and it was short, and she was ugly, and oh my gods, that was the funniest day!"

"Yeah," Reyna laughed. "Anyway, she was so appalled at the idea that she started insulting me, calling me a terrible person, and how she never wanted to talk to me again, let alone live under my rules. She tried to get me kicked off, but Jason wouldn't stand for it."

"I walked up to her and told her," Jason cut in, "'If you don't want to live under her rules, then get out.'"

"She tried to change her mind, and then you told her to leave!" Reyna laughed again.

"And then she turned tomato red!" They said in unison, and they laughed.

"Okay, great, funny story," Piper said sourly. "Can we _please _get back to Doomsday?"

"I agree," Annabeth replied hastily. "Let's keep going."

They discussed plans until everyone was too tired to speak. Jason fell asleep curled up with Piper, but he couldn't help but think about what happened when he was telling that story with Reyna. Why had she been so sour about it?

Jason started to drift off, when Piper suddenly whispered, "Do you care?"

A list of different things popped up in mind about what Piper could be asking about. _The end of the world, Gaea, their relationship, if I'm not sure I have feelings for Reyna that go past friendship. That last one's probably it._

"Yes," Jason replied honestly.

"What are you going to do about it, then? I can't help but be nervous, because you guys have memories, and we don't," Piper replied hastily. "I'm not sure if I can handle being in a relationship with a guy who isn't sure if he likes another girl or no-" but Jason cut her off by leaning in and kissing her.

He backed away and he looked into her eyes and whispered, "We'll make some. Here's something to think about. I may have feelings about Reyna, I may not. But I know for a fact," Jason continued as Piper tried to object, "that I have feels for you. Strong, romantic ones. That is a fact." He the top of Piper's head. "Goodnight, Pipes," and he fell asleep.

He woke up really early the next morning to the smell of sweat and dirt.

"What the…?" he grumbled and sat up, shielding his eyes from the nearly risen sun.

"It's time for training, Jason," Annabeth replied sternly. "We need to make sure we're fit and ready to fight Gaea to the best of our abilities."

So, they trained all day, Annabeth included, until Jason's legs were so sore from running, and his arms were sore from punching.

He had to run a couple more laps before Annabeth would let him stop. He woke up last, so he had a penalty.

He was just about to finish his last lap, when his knees got so weak, they gave way and he tumbled forward, falling flat on his face. "Ow," he muttered vaguely.

He heard footsteps, and finally, he saw Annabeth's sneakers. Then he heard her shout, "Get up, Grace! You still have four more feet to run!"

Instead, Jason pulled himself to the end with his fingers. He lifted his head up. "Does that count?"

She just rolled her eyes and walked over toward the group. "You still have to make it back!" she called.

Jason groaned and flipped over in the grass and just laid there for a couple of minutes, letting the early noon sun hit his face. He closed his eyes and felt the dirt on his face being backed and dried onto his face. He groaned. _Oh well, _he thought. _At least I have my imagination._

"What are you thinking about?" he heard from next to him.

He looked over at Piper, who sat down next to him.

He quoted himself, "Oh well. At least I still have my imagination. I would do the SpongeBob hands, but my arms are Jello."

Piper chuckled. "I _would _hold your hand, but my arms are Jello, too."

Piper laid down next to him, and they looked at clouds for a minute.

"Okay," she sat up and stood up. "I can move my arms again. Let's go back. Who knows what they're planning over there. Percy and Leo keep looking at us. And laughing. Ugh, what is he telling him?"

"Hey," Jason stood up and hugged her from behind, and rested his chin on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter, does it? We're together, and that's good," he smiled.

Piper nodded. "Okay," but she didn't sound convinced.

"Hey guys!" Leo shouted, and he ran over to them, waving.

When he finally caught up to them, he was breathing hard, and Percy had gone off somewhere else. Jason was slightly suspicious, but he decided to be cool, and ignore that feeling. "What's up, Leo?"

"Percy and I found something really cool, and we want to show it to you guys. It's really cool, and Annabeth gave everyone a quick break for rest. She doesn't want us to, 'strain our muscles,' or something like that," Leo said quickly. "Come on, follow me! Percy's already there!"

Leo ran on ahead of them, and Jason took Piper by the hand and led her after him. "See," he whispered. "Nothing to worry about."

She nodded, but she still looked unconvinced.

They followed Leo past the hill, but in the opposite direction Jason and Piper had eaten their sandwiches.

They followed Leo to a wooden dock that looked over a beautiful ocean. Jason pulled Piper close to him, and Leo gestured to the dock. They saw Percy by the end of it, watching the movement of the ocean, smiling. Jason could see his lips moving, but he didn't know what he was saying.

"Yeah, just go ahead and look around! We're still trying to explore it. I recommend the dock, though," Leo told them. "Percy seems to really like it down there."

Jason walked Piper down to the dock, and Percy looked up and smiled at them. "Hey, guys. I'm just gonna walk away now," he got up and turned to leave. "Just tah, give you guys some space." He walked off the dock.

"This is really beautiful," Piper whispered.

"I know," Jason said.

There was a loud creaking noise from behind them, but he ignored it. Percy and Leo were probably just hanging out.

"Do you think-" but Piper never got to finish her question, because right at that moment, they were both shoved into the ocean.

Jason surfaced first.

They coughed and spit up water, and then Jason could hear laughter from the dock. Leo's laughter. Percy must have been laughing, too, because the noise was twice as loud, vibrating on Jason's eardrums.

"I'm gonna get you guys for that!" he yelled up to them, pulling his hair away from his eyes.

"Well, try getting your little girlfriend first!" Leo called back.

Jason suddenly looked around. "Piper?"

No reply.

"PIPER?" he shouted.

"Dude!" he heard Percy saw. "You might have just _killed _Piper!"

"I didn't mean it! And she's probably fine!" Leo said anxiously.

But Jason couldn't care less what they were saying. His only thoughts were on Piper. "PIPER!" he shouted again.

Then, he heard it. A very faint, "Jason," from a short distance away. A simple mutter of, "Help me" that faded out into nothing. Then silence.

Jason dove in the water after the sound of Piper's voice. He couldn't open his eyes in the salty water, but he knew someone who could help.

He surfaced and shouted, "PERCY, GET OVER HERE AND FREAK'N _HELP ME_!"

"Okay, okay," he heard, and a splash. Suddenly, Percy was right next to him. "What do you need me to do?"

"FIND PIPER!" he shouted.

Percy went under immediately.

And Jason waited.

And waited.

And waited and waited and waited for what felt like twenty nervous hours, not wanting Piper to be hurt or dead or unconscious or _anything_.

And finally, Percy surfaced. "I need your help."

"WHY?" Jason was exasperated. _What can I do to save her underwater? _

"She hit her head on something. She's bleeding, loosing blood fast. The problem is, she's stuck in a coral bed, surrounded by seaweed, and I can hear the sharks coming. I need you to get her away. I'll fight the sharks. You save your girl." And just like that, Percy was gone.

Jason followed his shadow above water, trying desperately to stay calm, but he just couldn't stop freaking out about Piper, and his head was filled with the "what ifs."

Percy popped up again. "The sharks are closer now. I'll give you and air bubble. Then you can see and breath and such. Now, go!" And Jason plunged down to the murky depths of the underwater sea.

* * *

><p><strong>MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!<strong>

**The whole point of this chapter was to give me some more time to think about the future book, but I'm not quiet sure...It was also to give you guys a break from this whole, just "stuff" is happening, and make it fun. Oh, and this was also to tell you that the simplest pranks could go wrong. So, seriously think about that kind of stuff before you do it.**

**Oh, and I'd like to thank club, a guest on FanFiction, for this chapter's basic idea.**

**club: ****Please pleas uPdate your stories are the best one iv read so far out of any mark of athena fanfics and i love u so please please please update ohhhh P.S. an idea u should make some body get hurt so its more exciting**

**Oh, and Blondie B Happy says that she needs ideas for her newest MoA chapter, and she wants you guys to send her some idea, because she knows how much you hate short chapters. So, and I quote. "Send me some ideas!" From B londie B Happy! **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	36. Chapter 36

**Hey, guys! I apologize that I haven't updated in such a long time. I needed a really cool idea for this chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and, yeah...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 36<p>

Jason

Jason could barely see through the green salt water, but he was able to make out the shapes of animals and people. He could see Percy above, and he decided to follow him to wherever he was heading.

Percy was swimming extremely fast, and Jason could barely keep up. After a while, Jason was able to make out the silhouette of a body, floating underwater. Jason swam up to her and felt around her legs for the seaweed.

_I don't have _time _for this! _Jason thought frantically, and when he finally found the long, coiling string of seaweed on Piper's ankle, he ripped it apart.

Then, he saw it. The swift movement of the first shark. But, it wasn't very far away. It was actually quite close…

Jason felt a sudden sharp pain, like rows of needles going into his leg, and he cried out. He looked down and saw the shark, mercilessly trying to pull his leg off.

With his one free arm, he punched the shark in the nose and it let him go, swinging its head and backing away slowly.

Jason tried to kick to the surface, but the pain in his leg was unbearable.

He let go of Piper, and she floated simply to the surface of the water, her face up.

Jason sighed. _I guess that'll be the best I'll ever do for her, _he thought hopelessly.

Then, he heard another sound. The water, swishing roughly from maybe a mile away.

He looked around, and he saw Percy swimming over to him. Percy pushed their bubbles together and he gasped, "Do you _know _what you just did?!"

"Apparently not," Jason replied.

"That was Akheilos, the shark you punched in the nose!"

"Why is his name relevant?" Jason asked.

"Do you know _anything _about Greek Mythology?!" Percy gasped in exasperation.

"No. I'm _Roman_, Percy!" Jason shouted.

"Akhelios is a boy that was transformed into a shark by Aphrodite. The significance of this is because he is the son of Lamia, an extremely aggressive shark that used to be a woman, who now seeks her revenge on people by _eating their children_!" Percy gasped.

"Oh my gods," Jason whispered. "We're 'children,' aren't we?"

Percy nodded. "And by hitting her son, you've just _CALLED HER RIGHT TO US_!" Percy shouted in exasperation. "We have to get out of the water, _now_!"

"I can't! Akhelios bit me. That's why I hit him. _He nearly tore my leg off_!"

"Then, I guess we stay and fight," Percy replied gravely.

And then, Jason heard it. By the look on Percy's face, Jason could tell he heard it, too. He looked toward the source of the sound, and he saw a huge silhouette with a rabidly swishing tail fin surging toward them.

Jason couldn't help it. He screamed.

The shark kept coming at them, but Percy stayed, so Jason stayed. He was so nervous, he felt like he was sweating underwater.

Then the shark came into better view, and he could see the shark had her mouth open, and it was crazy wide.

Jason just stood there, frozen in fear.

Percy swam forward a little bit, but Lamia didn't seem to notice. She was focused on Jason, now. The one that hit her child.

Suddenly, Percy was right next to Lamia, swimming at the same speed, and Jason watched as he uncapped Riptide, and sunk into he shark's flesh.

It only went in about a half an inch, but it was enough to make Lamia turn her head to Percy. She chomped at the water, and then swung her tail fin.

It collided with Percy's rib cage, and he was went flying into the rock wall right next to Jason.

Percy floated, motionless, up to the surface.

Jason was suddenly filled with rage and adrenaline. He cried out, even though he knew no one could hear him, and rushed the shark.

The punched Lamia in the nose and he swung her head away. Jason saw Percy's sword, still protruding from Lamia's skin, and lunged for it.

Suddenly, The sword was gone from view, and Jason was hit in the stomach by a tail fin, and was send flying toward the rock.

Jason turned, and when he hit the wall, it was the bottom of his feet that connected. He pushed off the wall, and with incredible speed, he rushed Lamia, nearly shoved his fist up her nose, swam above her, and grabbed the sword.

He didn't try pulling it out. He started dragging it down.

It cut through Lamia's flesh, letting blood leak everywhere, all through the water, and probably soaking Jason's shirt, as Lamia thrashed around, he saw other sharks coming.

_They're attracted to Lamia's blood, _Jason thought.

Apparently, Lamia noticed it too, because she started swimming away from that part of the ocean.

Jason started tugging on the sword, but with no use.

He took one last breath in, and-

His bubble popped.

The water rushed at Jason's eyes, up his nose, and he was blinded. He kicked at the shark, and the he dragged the sword upward, and it slid right out of the shark, and she sped away.

Jason felt seriously nauseous, and really dizzy. Then, he remembered. His leg has been bleeding for the past couple minutes. He stopped moving, and he floated to the surface.

_Why didn't I think of this before? _He thought.

When finally broke to the surface, he felt as if his lungs were burning.

He took a huge gulp of air ad gasped. He opened his eyes, and he looked around for Percy and Piper.

Jason couldn't help thinking of the Titanic. He shouted helplessly for them, but there was no reply.

He'd heard about the new movie, and he felt like he needed to watch it.

_What is wrong with you?! _He mentally slapped himself. _You're dying, and you're thinking of a _movie _you want to see? _

Jason shook his head and looked around some more. He could just barely see the island's shore in the distance, so he started swimming toward it.

_There's no way I'm gonna make it, _he thought, but he kept going.

Suddenly, he tasted bile, and he stopped and vomited into the ocean. He looked up at the sky, and started floating on his back. He felt seriously dizzy, but he had to keep moving toward shore.

* * *

><p>When he finally saw the shore more clearly, he'd vomited twice more.<p>

He could see Percy's and Piper's bodies, floating in the ocean. He tried to quickly swim up to them, but he vomited instead.

He swam to them slowly, and he grabbed one Percy's arms, and one of Piper's arms in one hand, and swam to the shore with the other. Leo was sitting at the dock, and suddenly, he jumped up, and he threw a…something into the water.

It was two really big pieces of wooden board, and as he threw Percy and Piper on them, he really couldn't help but think of the Titanic. He was Jack Dawson, and Piper was his Rose. And Percy was just kind of…there.

He pushed the boards, which was much easier than dragging their bodies, toward the shore, and Leo grabbed them both and pulled them onto the deck.

Jason forced his way onto the edge of the deck, and vomited again at Leo's feet.

"Aw, dude!" Leo jumped away from the small pile of bile.

"Sorry," Jason muttered, and he finally realized how much _pain _he was in. His leg felt like it was burning off.

Black spots danced across his vision, and he muttered, "Get the others," before closing his eyes.

He last thing he heard before slipping out of conciousness was Leo: "They both have pulses, so why aren't they breathing?"

* * *

><p><strong>TADA! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Don't you guys just love me? XP! <strong>

**I'm kidding, by the way.**

**So, I just want you guys to know that I'm really glad I have such great fans like you guys out there that are actually _willing _to put up with me and my weird updating issues. I want to apologize to you, and I'll try my best to update my stories, but I'm going on vacation soon(well, I'm PROBABLY going on vacation soon. :P!), and I might not be able to, so, sorry again. **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	37. Chapter 37

**Okay, I've made serious changes to this chapter. Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry for...whatever happened last time. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 37<p>

Percy

Percy woke up with a serious headache. He groaned and opened his eyes, and saw all his friends' worried faces looming above him.

Annabeth was missing, but otherwise, everyone was there.

"Percy, are you okay?" Grover asked. "What happened?"

"Oh, he went swimming with Annabeth in the sea off-shore," Thalia replied. "Annabeth's still in her cabin, crying about it."

"No," Percy said. "I was on an island, and I was fighting a shark."

"I'll take you to see her, Percy," Juniper piped up.

They all sat him up, and then stood him up. He leaned on Juniper for support, and they walked him down from the beach at camp, toward the Athena cabin.

_How is this possible? _Percy thought. _I was just on an island, on a _quest_, actually, and all of a sudden, I'm back at camp. Maybe I drifted all the way down here when I got hit, and Annabeth swam after me. Or maybe she got an Iris message, and she made it here somehow?_

_ Probably the first one, _Percy decided, _since they thought we went swimming together._

* * *

><p>Leo had brought back everyone: Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Reyna, and they carried the three motionless bodies from the deck, and over to Reyna's old tree.<p>

"They have pulses, but they aren't breathing," Leo muttered.

Annabeth went straight to CPR on Percy.

* * *

><p>Thalia opened the door, and Juniper pushed him inside, and closed the door after him.<p>

Percy suddenly felt strong again, and he called for Annabeth. "Annabeth?" when there was no reply, he called again. "_Annabeth_?"

Suddenly, Annabeth was on him, her lips pressed to his. She nearly knocked him off balance, but he steadied himself and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She pulled back and smiled. "You're okay."

"Of course I am," Percy smiled at her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and then her expression turned serious. "Don't ever scare me like that again, Seaweed Brain."

"I promise. I'm sorry," he replied.

In response, she kissed him again.

* * *

><p>"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hazel asked.<p>

"I certainly hope not," Leo replied anxiously.

"And your probably not thinking what I'm thinking," Annabeth said before going back to Percy.

"But I think I know what she's thinking," Reyna said. "And she's probably right."

_Reyna is so hot_, Leo thought.

"Well, don't leave us hanging," Annabeth said, and pressed her lips to Percy's again.

"I'm pretty sure they're being kept in a coma by Gaea," Hazel said.

Annabeth stood up. "Well that's pointless, then."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"Well, Gaea can get in our heads and make tell us stuff, right? Who says she can't also mess with our consciousness?" Hazel asked.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS SOONER?!" Annabeth yelled.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Hazel whimpered, but Leo jumped in and yelled, "CUT IT OUT, ANNABETH! We're making a very bad impression of ourselves in front of our guest!" He gestured to Reyna.

* * *

><p>Percy played with some of the sand on the beach idly as he stared at Annabeth.<p>

"Why are you always staring at me now?" she asked, and she smiled. "It's not like you haven't seen me before."

"I don't know…there's just something about you…it almost seems…unreal," Percy smiled at her.

Annabeth looked out over the ocean.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

She got up and ran away.

"ANNABETH!" Percy shouted after, and got up to run, but she was gone.

He sank back down in the sand and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, adding sand to the mixture of hair and seawater that was his hair.

"Are you a monster, too?" a small voice squeaked behind him.

He looked back in surprise. A little girl, maybe seven, with a hammer in one hand, wearing flannel pajamas, was staring slightly past him, her gray eyes fixed on the water, and her blonde hair slightly dirty.

"No, we're just like you. Monster fighters," someone said, and Percy looked at the ocean as well. It had to be Luke. He looked a little younger, but it had to be. The same eyes, the same hair, all of it.

And it was like neither of them knew he was there.

Percy jumped up and ran off the beach, shouting, "Annabeth! Something's wrong! I think we might be on some strange island or something, but this isn't camp! ANNABETH!"

He made it to the forest, and he saw Annabeth, standing in the middle of a clearing, staring back at him.

"Annabeth, we have to go," Percy started moving toward her, but then Annabeth opened her mouth, and a loud, female voice thundered through the sky, using Annabeth to speak. "Well done, Mr. Jackson."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Annabeth?"

Suddenly, Annabeth's shape started to twist and change, until she was someone else entirely. She also seemed to be rooted to the ground, like she was part of it.

"Gaea," Percy hissed. "What the hell is going on?"

"You've figured it out. It's not really an island, more like your subconscious." Percy could hear the amusement in her voice.

"What do you want from me?!" Percy demanded.

"As long as you are here, and not in the real world, then you can't stop me, and I win. The end, Mr. Jackson."

"You won't get away with this, Gaea!"

_I sound like I'm in one of those bad superhero movies. _

"Oh, but I will. Have a nice time, Mr. Jackson, exploring your worst fears." And she was gone.

* * *

><p>"Okay, here's what I'm planning," Leo said.<p>

"Oh no, everyone prepare for explosions," Annabeth said.

"Shut up," Leo murmured.

Leo started talking, "We need to get these guys out of their comas, so I was thinking at maybe we could try to talk to them or something. Tell them they're dreaming?"

"What if they can't hear us?" Annabeth asked.

"Then, I don't know what we'll do, but we have to try," Leo said defiantly.

They all gathered around the three unconscious members of their small group and started talking to them.

"Piper, you're dreaming. You have to wake up, or you're going to die, because YOU'RE NOT BREATHING!" Reyna freaked out.

"Reyna, Reyna, chill out, okay. We have to be calm, or else crazy stuff might happen, and I can't have that. Okay? Everything is gonna be okay." Leo coaxed gently.

Jason's eyes suddenly flew open and he shouted, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE NOT BREATHING?!"

* * *

><p>Percy tried to run out of the forest, but he ended up back in that clearing. He started walking through the forest, just to look around, and then he saw Annabeth.<p>

_I thought it was supposed to be my greatest fears. _

"Percy, do you love me?" Annabeth asked.

"Of course," Percy replied, and took a step toward me.

She took a step back. "I HATE YOU! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed and ran off into the forest, crying.

"Annabeth, wait!" Percy cried after her.

But, just like before, she was gone.

* * *

><p>"Jason!" Reyna literally threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around him. "You're okay!"<p>

Leo stared at them, and Hazel giggled.

Reyna suddenly pushed herself off him, and backed up. "That didn't happen," she mumbled.

"What happened?" Jason asked. "How come they aren't breathing?"

So Leo explained everything.

"This is all your fault!" Jason yelled at him.

"ME?!" Leo cried. "How is this _my _fault?"

"YOU PUSHED US INTO THE WATER! YOU SET UP THIS WHOLE PRANK THING, AND NOW MY GIRLFRIEND MIGHT DIE!" Jason screamed.

He ran up and held Piper's head in his lap and stroked her hair and started to cry.

Leo looked away. "Just keep talking, guys," but Leo sounded very deflated. "We have to keep trying."

Suddenly Jason screamed.

They rushed over to him.

"I-I," he croaked.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"I can't feel her pulse anymore!" Jason screamed. He ran over and held his hand to Percy's neck.

He screamed again.

"T-They're gone…" he croaked helplessly. "They're both gone."

* * *

><p><strong>YAY, DRAMATIC DEATHS! <strong>

**Okay, so this was similar to my last chapter, for those of you who read it. But, key differences man. KEY DIFFERNCES! **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Okay, this is the other chapter that I had to make up. I think I got all the basic stuff down that was effected by last chapter, but yeah. Alright! I'm good!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 38<p>

Percy

"WHAT?" Annabeth cried. "Give her to me!"

"No!" Jason wept. "She's gone, and I'm never going to get to hear her laugh again, or see her smile, or _anything_!"

Annabeth knelt down and felt Piper's pulse.

And they waited.

Annabeth stood up and brushed off her hands of her jeans. "She's alive."

"Really?!" Jason felt her pulse. And waited.

He sighed in relief. "It's there. It's slow and faint, but it's there."

Annabeth checked Percy as well. "He's okay, too."

Leo let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"Okay, we have to keep talking to them now. Percy has a slight bluish tint to his face," Reyna muttered.

"No, not my Seaweed Brain," Annabeth knelt down next to Percy's motionless body and held his hand.

"Now that you mention it, Piper looks kinda blue, too," Leo said over Jason's shoulder.

"Piper, wake up, Piper," Jason whispered anxiously.

Suddenly, the ground was rumbling, and Leo shouted, "Earthquake!"

They carried Percy and Piper under a tree and left them there.

"I left the stuff!" Annabeth shouted and ran from under the tree before anyone could stop her.

"Annabeth, wait!" Leo shouted.

Leo was about to race after her, when a gigantic, blue foot attached to a hairy, blue ankle, stepped right in front of the tree.

The ground shook.

"Not an earthquake," Leo guessed.

"No, really?" Reyna snapped.

"Little Demigods, Little Demigods, where are you?" A voice bellowed from above. "I've been sent to put you back in timeout!"

Hazel squeaked nervously.

"What is it?" Frank asked, and everyone jumped.

"Gods, Zhang," Reyna scolded. "I'd forgetten you were even here. Don't scare us like that!"

"Sorry," Frank mumbled.

"That's the Cyclopes that brought me to Gaea's cave in the first place. Broke everything in my lower body," Hazel whispered, and she shivered.

Frank drew his sword, and charged the Cyclopes before Hazel could say otherwise.

"Frank!" she shrieked as he brought the blade through his foot, the height of Hazel herself.

The Cyclopes shouted in agony and started hopping around on one foot.

"THAT'S FOR MY GIRLFRIEND! GO TO TARTURAS!" Frank shouted, and stalked back under the tree.

"And the best part is," Frank said to all their horrified faces, "he doesn't even know where I am."

"Demons, attack! Avenge Gaea, and my foot!" the Cyclopes cried.

"Nice work, Frank," Reyna grumbled as they all drew their weapons.

And suddenly, the area was flooded with demons.

* * *

><p>As Percy walked around the forest, the trees grew around him, and he felt like he was only two inches tall.<p>

The forest rumbled, and he looked up to see Annabeth walking up to him, as tall as the trees around him.

"Annabeth!" he shouted up to her.

She looked down and screamed her head off. "SPIDER!" she screamed again and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Annabeth, WAIT!" he called after her, but she was gone.

"I'm not so sure if I'm scared of that one," he called out to nobody, "but it did make me sad."

Percy continued to wonder through the forest, wondering what kind of fear he'd face next.

He suddenly saw Annabeth, her back turned to him, and she whimpered, "I-I'm sorry!"

Then, he saw Luke, standing in front of her. "I don't care if you're sorry. I told you not to look at him ever again, and what do you do? LOOK at him!"

Then, Luke raised a hand and hit Annabeth.

She collapsed to the ground and he kicked her. A couple times.

Then, Luke stormed out and left, and Percy could hear the small _click _of a locking door.

"This is all Percy's fault!" he heard Annabeth say. "I HATE YOU, PERCY!"

That wrapped up about two fears at once. That Annabeth would hate him, which he'd already seen, technically, and that someone abused Annabeth, and Percy couldn't help her in anyway.

And, oh yeah, in the end it would be his fault.

Percy wondered around the forest feeling miserable, until suddenly, he fell. When he tried to get up, he was dragged toward one of the trees.

He clawed at the ground and screamed for help, but as soon as he was under a tree, it stopped, and he was able to stand up again.

_Well, that was odd, _he thought as he brushed some subconscious dirt off his subconscious pants.

He continued to walk and suddenly, he saw a shadow, and froze. But, just as quickly, it was gone.

He was about to keep walking, when there were suddenly hands around his neck, lifting him into the air.

"This is for everything, Percy," he heard Annabeth hiss, but this couldn't be her, because she wouldn't do this.

Then she realized that one of his fears was that she'd kill him.

Percy started to scratch at the hand around his neck, the hands that he knew so well.

He couldn't breathe. He tried to take in air, but it wouldn't go past his mouth. He screamed, and then finally, Annabeth let him go.

He fell to the ground and looked up at her. She had hate in her eyes. "I know you're not dead, Seaweed Brain," she snarled.

And he used to find that name so endearing!

"What did I do, again?" Percy asked.

"SHUT UP!" she shouted, and she drew her knife from her belt.

And she stabbed him.

Then she left her knife and ran off.

Suddenly, the knife dissolved, but the wound remained, painful and true.

He couldn't stand. If he tried, it was like a blinding pain that forced spots to nearly cover his vision.

He stayed their, on the ground, bleeding, when the ground around him burst into flames.

The heat was scalding, but that's not what scared him.

All of his friends showed up in the flames, screaming and burning. "Help us, Percy!"

Then Grover muttered, "He wouldn't help us. He shoved us in here in the first place."

Then the screaming filled the forest, and the fire died, leaving piles of ash where his friends had been.

Percy closed his eyes and felt the subconscious blood trickle down and stain his subconscious shirt.

_Wait a sec_, his eyes flew open. _This is _my _subconscious! I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT! _

He thought about his wound healing, and when he looked down, it was gone.

He stood up and thought about his friends, and the piles of ash turned back into people.

The thought about all of his fears, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Annabeth standing up to the abusive Luke, he saw Annabeth telling him he loved him. He saw all his fears being reversed, and then he made hole in the middle of the forest. He knew what is was as soon as it appeared, and as soon as he stepped through it…

* * *

><p>Percy's eyes flew open. He felt blood rushing to his head, and he had a serious head ache.<p>

"Let go of him! PERCY, WAKE UP!" he heard Annabeth shout.

"Okay!" he called back.

"PERCY!" he heard from behind him.

"Hazel?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, we got attacked by demons and a Cyclopes while you were out. We're being carried away right now. Don't know where, but we are," Hazel replied.

"I don't care," Percy said, and he drew his sword. "We're getting out of here," and he stabbed the Cyclopes in the hand.

* * *

><p><strong>AND MY CONCIOUSNESS HAS BEEN RESTORED! I hope you enjoyed!<strong>

**Thanks for Reading!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Hey, everyone! This chapter is good, I hope...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 39<p>

Leo

Leo drew a hammer from his tool belt and started smashing demons that came too close. They seemed to be killing no one in particular, so Leo was stuck defending Piper, while everyone else got to go rescue Percy and Hazel.

Or, try to, anyway.

Leo swung around and smashed his hammer into the side of a head of a demon approaching Piper.

He was struggling to face all of them alone, but everyone else was on a "rescue" mission, so what other choice did he have?

There was a loud scream from behind him, and when he looked back, he saw a girl, stabbing everything out of a demon, who had been only inches from Leo.

The girl stood up, and when she looked at him, he noticed Reyna.

_She seemed so different, _Leo thought. _I can't even recognize her anymore. _

"Duck!" she ordered, and Leo ducked as she swung her sword over his head, and he heard the thud of a demon from behind him.

"I thought you were with the others," Leo asked, as he slammed another demon in the back with his hammer.

"I decided to come and check on you," she replied simply. "And just in time, too. You would've been Leo spaghetti if I hadn't shown up when I did."

_That's the first time she hasn't said anything harsh to me. _Leo thought excitedly.

He kicked an approaching demon in the chest, and whirled around and hit another one who had its heart for a face.

The hammer splattered the heart, sending demon blood in every direction, and it dissolved into sand, with all of its comrades.

"This is really gross," Leo admitted.

"Suck it up, Valdez," she said, but she didn't say it harshly. She said it…kindly, even.

"Okay, look, they need help," Reyna said after cutting another demon into chunks.

"Well, we can't abandon Piper," Leo replied, and kicked a demon in the knee, smashing the hammer onto the top of its head, forcing it to pop like s zit in Leo's face.

He hit another demon with a round house to its shoulder, where Leo could see its heart.

"Demons," Leo muttered. "Made worse and more sloppy each time."

"Leo, we have to help them!" Reyna said more urgently this time.

"What do we do, then? Ask for all the demons to disappear and for everything to be okay again?" Leo asked sarcastically.

"No, ding-bat," Reyna hissed. "Go help them!"

"But I can't just," he hit a demon in the neck, and its head popped clean off, soaring through the air before hitting another demon in the chest, causing them both to explode into sand, "_leave _you here!"

"Yes, you can. Now, go!" Reyna hissed, slicing a demon in half.

Leo ran off, clubbing demons in his way, until he reached the rest of them.

The battle was brutal. Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Jason, and surprisingly Percy, were fighting off demons and trying to get to the Cyclopes, who still had Hazel.

Leo smashed a couple more approaching demons, when he ran up to Percy and said, "Hey man, your back!"

"Yeah, I am," Percy replied, and sliced up a couple more demons. "It was pretty crazy in there."

"In where?" Leo smashed a couple more demons.

"My subconscious."

And Percy explained everything to that happened to Leo.

"Weird…" Leo replied. "Did I really burn up in a fire?"

"Sure did. But, like I said, you were okay after. You have to tell Piper that she has control. Then, she'll be able to break free. It's her subconscious, after all." Percy stabbed a row of demons like a shish-ca-bob on his sword before they exploded into sand.

"Right," Leo replied, and ran back to Reyna to deliver the news.

"Okay, I'll try, but go help the others!" Reyna yelled, and Leo ran back to the group.

"Annabeth," Leo wheezed as he ran up to her. "Annabeth, I have an idea to get Hazel down-"

"Then go do it, Leo, before you're sliced to bits!" She hissed.

Leo nodded and ran around the Cyclopes, until he was facing its back side.

And then he started to climb.

* * *

><p><strong>So, that was chapter 39! <strong>

**Okay, you might not see it, but we're getting closer and closer to our climax as you read. That means we're getting closer and closer to the endof the story. **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Okay, so I know I said I would wait and do a barage update, but I decided to put this chapter up because, honestly, it's just a chapter of action. **

**Okay, so I have some fan conflict going on right now. Here are these reviews I've gotten that make me say so:**

**Whitherfang: you had better put frazel in there not leo and hazel because leo isnt sammy but frank is frank**

****greekgeek: **Can there PLEEEEASE have some Hazeo action 'cause I luv ur story**

**Thanks for loving my story, greekgeek, and you make a very valid point, Whitherfang, Frank does seem to be Frank! ;P!**

**So, yeah, I don't know what you guys think about this, but what team are you guys on? Lazel(or Hazeo, apartently) or Frazel?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 40<p>

Leo

Leo was halfway up the Cyclopes's leg, when he heard Hazel scream.

And it got louder. And louder. And louder…

Until Leo realized it wasn't getting louder, but closer.

"Hazel!" Leo shouted as he saw her swing toward him.

"Dizzy…" Hazel moaned.

Leo reached out to her, and grabbed her arm and jumped up as she collided with where he was only seconds before.

Hazel started to swing away, and Leo swung with her. He felt like Tarzan. He couldn't help it. He pounded on his chest and did a Tarzan yell.

"What are you doing?!" Hazel asked, exasperated. "You're yelling in my ear!"

"Sorry," Leo muttered.

Leo climbed up Hazel and grabbed the Cyclopes's wrist and hung on as he grabbed a screw driver from his belt.

He found the joint of the monster's thumb, and lowered a hand down to Hazel. "Grab my hand and don't let go. Whatever you do, _don't let go_. I can _not _stress that enough," Leo shouted down to her.

"Okay," Hazel replied.

Leo jabbed the tip of the screw driver into the joint.

He heard the Cyclopes roar, and he let Hazel go.

She screamed, and Leo was thrown against the Cyclopes's wrist. He put the screw driver away and reached down and grabbed Hazel's other shoulder, and called down to her, "Give me your other hand!"

He felt Hazel's grip on his wrist, because he couldn't really see her. His face was pressed into the Cyclopes's blue and smelly wrist.

"Ugh," Leo muttered. "Does this dude shower at all?"

Leo needed to continue his plan. He turned his face to the side, and started to swing Hazel below him.

"LEO!" she screeched, "THIS IS NOT HELPING!"

But Leo kept swinging, until she was eye level with him.

With one last burst of strength, Leo swung her, twisting his body, until she was above him.

She screamed and fell on him. He felt the wind leave him, and Hazel groaned.

"Sorry," he grumbled, and Hazel said, "So what's your plan?"

"We jump into battle." He smiled at her horrified face.

"Hey, little demigods!" the Cyclopes bellowed from above. "I see you on me!"

Another blue hand was suddenly above them. "I'm gonna squash you like bugs!"

"Hazel, grab on to his fingers when I say now, and swing over onto the back of his hand," Leo whispered.

"Oh, okay…" she whispered cautiously.

"NOW!" Leo shouted as the hand came down on them.

They jumped to their feet and Leo grabbed a random finger and swung around, landing on the back of the big blue hand. He saw Hazel's upper body, but she was struggling to pull herself up. Leo ran over and pulled her up.

The hand began to move back over toward the group below them.

Leo grabbed Hazel hand and shouted, "When I say, 'Go,' run, and when we get to the edge of the hand, jump. Then, get ready to fight!"

"Leo, your crazy!" Hazel shouted back.

But Leo was already running. "GO!" he shouted, dragging a protesting Hazel along with him.

And then they reached the edge of the hand.

And then Leo jumped.

And pulled Hazel after him.

And Hazel screamed her head off. But Leo let her hand go and drew his hammer back out of his tool belt.

The ground came into view, and Leo shouted into the air.

Frank looked up at them.

Then Leo shouted, "Catch your girl, Frank!"

Frank did some kind of weird frantic dance, and Leo laughed. Then Leo did an amazing in-air back flip, and then a front flip. He lit his hammer on fire, did another back flip, and landed on the ground, on his feet.

"Thank you, thank you very much!" Leo did a bow to an invisible crowd, then swung around, this hammer out, and crashed into the face of a demon that had a turtle for a head.

Like, a whole turtle.

_Okay then, _Leo thought as he brought his flaming hammer down on the head of some demon that looked like a sand bag.

He was suddenly back-to-back with someone. He looked over his shoulder and saw Hazel's curly hair in his face.

"Thanks for saving me," she said, and Leo blushed.

"Anytime. You're my friend, remember? Plus, I was the only one not held up by demons," he smiled, and she chuckled.

Leo kicked a demon in the gut, and smashed the hammer into its ribcage. The demon exploded into sand.

"ANNABETH!" Leo heard Percy shout, and when he looked over, he saw Annabeth being dragged off by, maybe twenty demons.

"I'm gonna go help," Leo told Hazel, and ran off, past demon fights and flying arrows.

Leo tripped and hit the ground, slamming his chin shut, biting his tongue. He could taste blood, but what was in front of him was more surprising.

Riptide, lying unattended, in sword form.

He grabbed the hilt and ran off to find Percy.

He heard screaming all around him, and he was so confused. He thought he was lost, when he saw Annabeth's curls and Percy's eyes, and he chased after them.

"PERCY!" he shouted, and Percy whirled around just in time for Leo to throw Riptide.

Percy caught it in mid-air and did some crazy cutting of demons, shouting, "No body touches my girlfriend!"

Leo ran off back toward where Hazel was hold her ground, and was nearly shot in the head by Frank's arrows.

"WATCH IT, MAN!" Leo shouted, and continued to run to where he left Hazel.

He saw her, but she was seriously out numbered, surrounded, and scared.

Leo got angry really fast, and lit himself on fire. And he ran through the wall of demons, and they lit as fast as oil, screaming and turning into charred piles of sand. Hazel looked up at him, and was the last demons lit and burned, he smiled.

"I'm going to go run around for a minute. Excuse me," he said, and just started running into demons, watching them burn and burn a chain of other demons.

"I AM FIRE BOY! YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE!" Leo laughed, and ran around burning up every demon he could see.

He started throwing fire balls into random crowds of demons and watching them ignite.

He felt powerful.

_Really _powerful.

He even lit a couple trees on fire, just for sport.

Then he remembered Reyna and Piper, and he took off through the mob of gross demons, burning to death, until he reached the tree.

Good news, he hadn't light it on fire.

Bad news, so many demons!

Leo rolled his eyes and started throwing fire balls and running to demons, and as they all burnt to death, Reyna looked up and smiled at him.

He extinguished himself, walked up to her, and drew a line of fire across the grass, separating the demons from Piper, Reyna and him.

Then he grabbed Reyna and kissed her.

And to his surprise, Reyna kissed back.

When he pulled away, she asked, "What made you do that now? I've been waiting for, like, a couple days now."

"That's what happens when you feel powerful, Reyna. You do some really stupid stuff," and he kissed her again.

Then he extinguished the flame wall, and attacked some crazy demons with fire balls, Reyna fight with him, and he felt like a champion.

_I kissed Reyna! I KISSED REYNA!_

* * *

><p><strong>HE DID IT! HE KISSED REYNA! YAAAY! So, like I said, this chapter was mainly action, just because I wanted to focus on other things, and update at the same time. Best filler I've made yet, right? XP!<strong>

**Okay, so I'm going to figure out the plan for the rest of my story(by writing all the chapters), and then I'll update accordingly until I get to the crazy climax! I hope you understand that I'm doing this to make for maximum awesomeness when the climax comes! It's going to be like, a chapter after chapter after chapter barrage! I hope you guys enjoy it when it comes! I'll try to make it as exciting as possible!**

**kmc995: "Octavian marked my boy-friend with the eternal government tattoo!" - MY FAVE LINE**

**MY FAVE REVIEW! **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	41. Chapter 41

**Hey, everybody!**

**Okay, so I put this on my profile, then I realized that nobody even really _reads _a person's profile, so I put it somewhere were people might read it.**

**Okay, I'm going to try to write a House of Hades. I'm not ready to write it yet, I'm only halfway through MoA, so I need you all to help me make it popular.**

**A friend of mine (cough... B Happy..cough) has only posted two chapters and she already has about 100 reviews, so I really want you guys to help me make it popular. There is 1 EASY STEP TO DOING SO_. Tell your friends_!**

**Thanks you guys, and Happy Reading!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 41<p>

Frank

Frank shot at a couple more demons and found Hazel, surrounded by piles of ash. He decided to fight with her, because he loved her and she was alone.

He shot at a couple more demons and stood behind her. "Hey."

"Hey," she said and rolled around him and sliced a demon's legs off.

"Um," Frank said, and shot a couple more demons while she killed off the ones that got to close.

"Save your breath, Frank, I don't want to hear anything you have to say right now," she said sourly and killed a couple more demons.

_Ouch_, Frank thought, but he stayed silent. _What did I do wrong? _

When things got really crazy was when the Cyclopes got involved again.

He swung his huge hand around, trying smack the demigods, but all he managed to hit was his demons, which exploded into sand on impact, which seemed hysterical to Frank.

The Cyclopes took out all of his army.

"Demons?" he asked stupidly and waddled around. "Where did you go? Gaea will hear of your slacking and kill you!"

Frank and Hazel were suddenly swamped by their friends: Percy, who was helping a limping Annabeth walk, Leo, Reyna and Jason.

"She'll be fine," Reyna shrugged before Frank could say anything about where Piper was. "We hid her, she's okay."

"I hope so," Jason muttered.

"Now!" Annabeth suddenly shouted up at Cyclopes. "You are out numbered, Cyclopes, and have the numbers to take you down. Surely," Annabeth continued, "if we can hold our own against countless demons, we can take down a single Cyclopes together!"

Percy nodded.

She was taking advantage of his stupidity, Frank realized, and he smiled.

"Um, you wouldn't attack an unarmed Cyclopes, would you?" he asked, trying to get away.

But we surrounded his feet and he stayed still, squirming slightly.

_We're not even as tall as his feet. This guy must really be stupid_, Frank thought, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we would, because we have to. You are not as innocent as you seem. You tried to attack and kill us. You're working for Gaea, so you must be eliminated. It's your own fault," Hazel spoke up, finding a strong voice that made Frank think he was in even more trouble.

"But-" the Cyclopes tried, but Reyna countered, "No buts. Only punishment. Your demons friends wish you meet with you again in Tarturus," and Reyna drew her sword above her head.

Everyone else drew their weapons, so Frank notched and arrow and pointed at the one thing eye level: his monstrous ankle.

"WAIT!" The Cyclopes shouted, which even blew some of the trees. "One thing to say before I die!"

"What?" Annabeth asked, annoyed.

"Holded your own what?" The Cyclopes asked stupidly.

"NOW!" Reyna shouted, and as everyone else plunged their weapons into the sky blue flesh, Frank let his arrow fly.

The Cyclopes shrieked, and slowly and steadily, his ankles turned to sand.

And the sand spread to the rest of his body, the weapons hitting the ground again with a loud thud as the remainder of the Cyclopes blew away in the wind.

"That was weird," Leo said as they all walked forward and picked up their weapons.

Frank slid the arrow back into its quiver with its twin buddies when Hazel said, "Agreed."

"I think its funny how," Percy said, "none of the guys did any of the talking."

"Well, we all knew the girls here are the tough ones," Annabeth said, and Reyna nodded.

They walked(and Annabeth limped) back to the tree where they left Piper, and Reyna pulled her out from behind it.

"That's not hidden!" Jason yelled.

"They didn't find her, did they?" Reyna asked.

"No, but-" Jason started, but Reyna suddenly dropped down to her knees and felt Piper's pulse.

"Okay," she breathed a quick sigh of relief. "She's still here."

"Move," Percy ordered, and he knelt down in front of her.

Frank could barely hear what he was saying, but he heard, "Piper, you're stronger than Gaea. You might feel helpless, but your not. It's _your _subconscious. It's _your _mind. You control it. Just because someone's in your head doesn't mean you've lost control. Use your power! Wake up!"

Suddenly Piper's eyes flew open and she sat up and gasped, sucking in a huge amount of air.

"Where-?" she started, but Jason ran up screaming, "PIPER!" and crushed all her new air out of her lungs with a hug.

"Jason!" she said, and when he pulled away, she kissed him.

"That's the reunion I wish I'd gotten. Stupid Cyclopes, messing with my moment!" Percy shook his fist in the air, and Annabeth laughed. "Come here, Seaweed Brain," she said, and grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him to her lips.

Frank scratched the back of his neck and looked over at Hazel. She rolled her eyes and looked away.

_What did I do? _He wanted to scream, but he didn't.

Leo didn't seem as uncomfortable as he usually did when people kissed.

Then, to Frank's surprise, and apparently Leo's, Reyna grabbed Leo's shirt collar and kissed him, her eyes closed, his eyes widening in alarm. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and closed his eyes.

Now, Frank suddenly felt awkward. He wanted to kiss Hazel, but he mainly wanted to know what was wrong.

Reyna and Leo broke apart first. Then she did the unthinkable.

She smiled.

Then she did the impossible.

She laughed. Even if it was slight, she _laughed_.

"Whoa," Leo said jokingly. "Reyna laughed! IT'S THE APOCOLYPSE!"

"Haha," she said, rolling her eyes, but still gripping his shirt collar.

Then she dragged him in and kissed him again.

Frank walked over to Hazel and whispered, "What did I do wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," Hazel said sarcastically. "It just seems that my life is expendable to anyone but Leo here!" and she stalked off before Frank can say anything.

"Dang, girl," Frank muttered.

Annabeth and Percy broke apart, and Percy smiled. "That's the greeting I was waiting for."

She rolled her eyes and leaned on him.

Frank looked around. Piper had pulled Jason over her, and they were still kissing, while Reyna was walking over to talk to Annabeth, leaving Leo in a daze.

Frank decided to walk over to Annabeth, too.

"We need a game plan," Reyna said. "I'm not will to sit around and wait here for another demon invasion."

"Well," Frank pointed out, "Annabeth's hurt."

"Yeah," Jason said, who was suddenly standing behind him.

Frank whirled around and blinked. Piper was whispering and talking to Hazel. _I wish I knew what I'd done wrong_, Frank thought.

Jason walked off, and Frank and Annabeth mumbled a bit, then Jason comes back with clutching his arm, and he handed Annabeth a square of ambrosia. She bit off the corner and nibbled on the rest until she was able to stand on her own.

Frank looked back over at Hazel, who was coming over to talk with everyone.

"I agree," Hazel said. "We need to get into Rome. And Annabeth isn't hurt anymore, so there's nothing to worry about now," Hazel regarded Frank coldly, and he turned around, heat rushing to his cheeks in anger and embarrassment.

"Yeah, we really need to get a move on," Piper replied hastily. "I'll start packing our things. What do we have, like 5 days left?"

"Well, according to when we, for lack of a better word, "released" Reyna, we had eleven days. Then, with the four days of training from Annabeth, that brought us down to seven, then that day we went without Piper and Percy, which brought us to six days, and this fight we had today which wore us all out, and the sun is going down, so we need to rest…we have exactly five days left. Wow, Piper, you were right." Percy said.

"Just cause I'm a daughter of Aphrodite doesn't mean I can't do math," is all Piper had to say as she packed Annabeth's backpack, leaving some clothes out. "Hazel and I are going to change. We need to get moving, like, soon, or we're all gonna die. Simple as that," Piper said as she stood by Hazel with a big ball of clothes in her arms.

And on that note, Hazel and Piper left, leaving Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Leo, Frank, and Reyna, to wonder what on Earth were they going to do now.

"I say we sleep," Reyna muttered. "While the thought of our eminent death is still freshly burned into the backs of our minds."

So, they all laid under the long extend of the spindling branches of the tree they'd used for so many things, and Frank was barely able to sleep, remembering how Hazel still had his piece of firewood.

_That means she still loves me, right?_

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys!<strong>

**I have a couple new favortie reviews to add to my favorite reviews list. Here's my most recent ones:**

**Guest: I. HATE. PIPER! HOW DARE SHE DO THAT TO PERCY AND ANNABETH! PERCEBETH ALL THE WAY! Chapter: 29**

**SakuraFlutist: Yes, I do find this to be your best filler chapter so far :) Chapter: 40**

**So, if you want to know what they're talking about, you should check out those chapters. I think Guest's review was the most hilarious out of these two, because I'm pretty sure it's the reaction most people who read that part of the chapter got! XD!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	42. Chapter 42

**Hey, guys! It's exactly 23 days until my one-year anniversary on FANFICTION! XD! I'm excited, so that has to count for something!**

**Anyway, thanks for sticking with me!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 42<p>

Frank

Frank woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise, with a warm body stuck to his back. He looked behind him and saw the cushion of Hazel's curly hair and smiled.

He sat up, and she whispered, "I've been waiting for you to get up."

"I'm sorry about what happened," Frank whispered back.

Hazel sat up, and hugged her knees to her chest. After a short while, she looked over at him. "Do you know what today is?"

"Last time I checked it was June, but that was long before we met Percy," Frank shook his head.

"I was just wondering," she replied. "I have a feeling this day is supposed to be important to me, I just don't know why…" she looked back ahead of her again.

"Maybe it's the day you forgive your boyfriend for being stupid?" Frank asked hopefully.

"I like that. But I want him to know what he did first," Hazel said. She looked back up at him. "Leo was the one who went to rescue me. I mean, Percy tried, but he didn't succeed, but what bugged me was that you didn't even _try_."

"Well, we were all just trying to protect ourselves while trying to reach you," Frank swatted a gnat away from his face, "and there were too many. Leo was the only one who got a break away point. And," Frank added, "I did catch you."

Hazel nodded. She looked away again, and Frank decided to tell her a story.

"Sometimes, on really foggy mornings, you can see Slender Man standing among the trees," he whispered, and Hazel laughed slightly.

"His skin is gray, Frank. How could gray fog like this," she gestured to in front of them, "make him more obvious."

"His suit is dark gray. It stands out like a sore thumb," Frank replied, and he smiled as she looked back at him.

So, they sat and they watched, waiting for a gray suit to appear in the fog, when there was groaning, yawning, and rustling behind them.

Frank looked back. Reyna had just sat up. "Oh, hey you guys. Would you help me wake up everyone else?"

"Why," Hazel asked, and Frank nodded.

"Because today, we march into Rome."

It was probably eight in the morning by the time they got into the first town in Rome. They looked around in search of a car, but all they really found were some mope heads and motorcycles.

"What do we do now?" Annabeth asked suddenly. "We need to find out where everything is going down, and fast! I'm more than sure, seeing we only have _five freak'n days_, all her minions are in position. So, what trail do we have to follow?"

"I honestly don't know," Hazel replied, and Frank looked around. Leo and Reyna were standing by each other, looking comfortable and together. Percy was laughing with Jason, and Piper was standing near the front of the group.

"Well," Leo piped up, "I say we spend the next two days _exploring_. That way, we see if we can find it, _and _have some fun. It's a win-win for all of us!"

"Oh, I definitely agree," Piper said cheerfully.

"Okay, then maybe we should split up into…slightly small groups," Reyna said.

"Like, groups of two?" Frank smiled at them, and Leo blushed and looked away.

Reyna didn't respond.

"How about groups of four?" Annabeth replied. "Jason, Piper, Percy and I will go one way, and Reyna, Hazel, Leo, and Frank can go the other. Any objections?"

"Nope," Jason said.

And so, they split up, and for the next two days, they were going to explore.

"I want to see a museum," Hazel turned to look up at Frank. "Can we?"

"Yeah, sure. Reyna might be into it, too." So, they all walked off to find the nearest museum.

A big, gray, stone museum with pillars lining the front and huge stone stairs was what they found first. Frank read the sign on the post near the steps:

"_Vatican Museums_." Frank looked around, and Hazel nodded. "Let's go in here," and she grabbed Frank's hand and lead him into the museum, Reyna and Leo following in close pursuit.

They walked through the museum, looking at various exhibits, when they came across the section for the statues and paintings from long ago.

"Well, we have to look at this," Hazel said.

"Boring," Leo said.

"Leo and I will…be elsewhere," Reyna said.

"Where are you guys going?" Frank teased. "To find a quiet, lonely corner?"

"Shut up, Zhang, or I'll have you head on a stick!" Reyna hissed, and lead Leo off to get to somewhere.

"You really need to let them be, Frank," Hazel said as they walked through. "Because Reyna really will put your head-" she stopped mid sentence and looked at the exhibit in front of her.

There was supposed to be a statue here, the case was huge and the plaque label a statue of some sort, but the statue itself was missing.

A man in a blue vest walked past the entrance at just that moment, and Hazel whirled on her heel and ran up to him, shouting, "Excuse me, sir?"

Frank ran after her, and Hazel asked, "Do you work here?"

"Yes, I do," he said. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes. What happened to the statue in this exhibit?" Hazel asked.

"We don't know. We checked the footage like, seven times. It was there, then it was…gone. No idea," he shook his head.

As the man waked away, Frank muttered, "Apparently, the Mist doesn't fix _everything_."

As they continued to look around, they saw there were other statues missing, and some paintings. There was also a window missing, which Frank found odd and peculiar.

"Okay, this is getting very weird," Hazel said.

"We should check on Leo and Reyna," Frank said. "You know, to make sure _they _haven't disappeared, too."

"Haha," Hazel said, but they still left the exhibit to find them.

After a little while of searching, they finally found them, and Frank could help but laugh that they'd followed his advice exactly.

Making-out in a dark corner, near the back of the museum.

Hazel pulled Frank away before he could say anything, and they left in search of other missing exhibits.

In the end, they figured out that mostly statues were missing, along side with some other paintings, and they decided it was time to leave and see what else they could find around town that was odd or absent.

They found Reyna and Leo in the gift shop. Leo was wearing a bronze, yellow, and pink scarf that read, "I'M THE MAN" in capitol letter.

"Hey, guys," Leo called when he saw them, "check it out!" he pointed to his scarf, "apparently, I'm the man!"

"Yes, in a very pretty pink scarf," Frank smiled.

Leo grumbled something about "nobody appreciating style," and put the scarf back on the shelf.

Frank saw a blue, green, and purple one that said, "I'm the boat on the ocean. I just rock with it."

"While you were on your own," Hazel said, "we found out something extremely odd."

"What?" Reyna asked as Leo played with a small snow globe that had the Roman Coliseum in it.

"Statues and paintings are missing from this museum," Hazel said sadly.

"And a window," Frank added, and Hazel looked at him.

"A _window_?" Reyna asked. "Why would anybody want a window?"

"A glass sword," Leo said as he put the snow globe down and walked over to them. "Or, they were missing a window themselves. OR, they could be making a glass guitar! That would be epic!"

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Good thing he's cute."

So, they left the museum to search for other missing things in Rome, when Reyna looked up at the sun and said, "It's about three. We should go and meet up with Annabeth and everyone else soon. Tell them what we found out."

"Right. But, for now," Frank stepped in, "we should just keep looking."

But that's when a shiny red convertible rolled up to them, and Annabeth stuck her head over the side and said, "We have disturbing news."

"We do, too," Reyna said.

* * *

><p><strong>Missing statues, paintings...and a window? I think Frank is on to something. But who really knows?<strong>

**Oh, wait. I do! ;P!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	43. Chapter 43

**Hey, guys! This is the next chapter! Discoveries are made, and life gets a little more compicated for the Heros of Olympus! **

**I also want to say that I hope everyone who suffered during Hurricane Sandy stays strong and I hope we can help you as soon as possible. I'm sorry for everyone who lost someone they loved, and I hope that the men and women lost in this Hurricane are in a better place now. No one deserves to die that way.**

**Sorry I set such a morbid mood just a second ago...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 43<p>

Annabeth

After they'd split up from the rest of the group, Jason and Annabeth agreed to split up even farther, and Annabeth and Percy went one way, while Jason and Piper went another.

As Annabeth and Percy held hands down the street, Percy asked quietly, "Wanna steal a mope head and ride?"

"No, mope heads really aren't my style," Annabeth said.

"Motorcycle?" Percy asked hopefully.

"No," Annabeth said thoughtfully.

Then, the answer flashed right in front of her.

Literally, the mobile she wanted drove past them and parked in front of them.

"That," Annabeth said, pointing to the red convertible.

Percy smiled. "I like your style, Annabeth," and they ran over to distract the man while Annabeth hot wired the car.

"Hello, sir," Percy said, and the man looked at him.

Annabeth slipped into the car and sunk under the dashboard and started playing with the cables.

"Do you know how to hot-wire a car?" Percy asked.

Annabeth wanted to smack him, but didn't want to reveal her location as she dried to get some piece of the dashboard to break off.

"Yeah," the man said, to her surprise. "Something to do with the wires under the hood. Why are you asking?"

_We're doomed_, Annabeth thought as she quietly climbed out of the car.

"You're under arrest," Percy said simply. "There a car thief running around loose in the area and anyone who knows how to hot-wire a car is under extreme interrogation."

"You're not a real police officer! Why are you using rope instead of handcuffs, and why are you sixteen?" The man shouted, outraged.

"It's take your son to work day, and my dad asked me to help him solve this case. He never gave me handcuffs. Now, sit on the side of the road while I radio my father," the lie Annabeth heard him tell from the other side of the car was so fluent it almost sounded like the truth to Annabeth, too.

_We're on a quest_, Annabeth reminded herself. The car was just for faster travel means.

"Actually," Percy said suddenly, "sit behind your car. I don't want to be the cause of your feet getting run over."

Then, Percy was suddenly next to her. "Okay, as long as you're quiet, you should be able to do this. I'm going to ask him if he stole this car, just as a back-up plan if you can't get it started."

"How will that help," she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"I'll confirm it was stolen and take the keys from him. Then we'll drive it 'back to the station.'" He replied, and stood back up.

Annabeth crawled around the car and quietly lifted the hood.

To her pleasant surprise, it opened without a squeak, and she started working with the wires, careful not to touch the car horn ones.

She couldn't figure it out, so she lowered the hood and crouched back around the car.

Percy saw her, and she shook her head. Percy looked back at the guy and he asked, "Did you steal this car? They're looking for a red convertible just like this one," Percy looked at the car.

"What?" the man asked angrily. "Of course not! I bought this-"

"I don't wanna hear your little cover story," Percy said, and Annabeth almost laughed.

Percy crouched low over the back side of the car and said, "Oh yeah, this is the one. My dad's really gonna have it in for you. Your lucky my mom doesn't work like this, too. She's an English teacher."

"Oh," he said.

"Give me the keys," Percy turned around and stuck his hand out at the man.

"I'm tied up, wise guy," the man remarked coldly and looked away. "And I didn't steal my car."

"Maybe you bought it off someone who stole it. It really doesn't matter; all that _does _matter, however," Percy bent over and took the keys from the man pant pocket, "is that it's not truly yours, and I need to get this too the station."

Percy walked around to the driver's side and opened the door and hopped in. Annabeth climbed in as well, and she whispered, "Are we just going to leave him there?"

"Yeah," Percy said, and turned the key in the ignition.

The car roared to life as she looked down and saw that it was a stick car. She touched the stick-shift, and suddenly his hand was on her's, and he shifted to four and sped off down the road.

They passed some famous land marks, the roof still down, like how they had found it, while Percy asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"You know, we're supposed to be on a quest," she countered.

"But we have two days to relax and celebrate that we made it to Rome," Percy winked.

Annabeth leaned over the side of the car, and the wind pushed her blonde curls back, over and past her fast as it zoomed down the old road.

It suddenly lurched forward and sped faster, the whole world turning into a sea of blurred trees and grass around her.

The car slowed again, and Percy turned a corner and drove toward the heart of the city.

He turned again, and they drove slowly past some landmarks.

They saw the Coliseum in the distance, they pasted the Parthenon, which Annabeth marveled at its size beauty, and as they drove for a little while longer, Annabeth saw something was missing.

"WHAT?!" she shouted. "Percy, stop the car!"

The car screeched to a halt, and she jumped out and ran to the empty space in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked, jogging up behind her as she fan a frustrated hand through her hair and started moving one way, then stopped herself, started moving the other way and stopped herself again, and threw her hands to her sides.

"The Arch of Titus should be here!" Annabeth shouted angrily.

"Maybe they removed it?" Percy asked.

"It's a famous landmark and attraction of Rome, Seaweed Brain. Why would they remove it if it made them money?"

"Maybe it had some defects they wanted to look at?"

"It's a stone arch! _What could be defective in that_?!"

"Maybe it lost its motivation to arc, so they needed to make it happy again?" Percy asked stupidly.

"Stop being funny and take this seriously!" Annabeth snapped.

"Right. Sorry, forgot you were an architect. You don't laugh at jokes about building structure." He made a horizontal line in the air with his finger, as if he was crossing something off. "Cross that off the list."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and climbed back into their car. "Let's just go see what else is out there."

Percy climbed in the other side, and they drove around more.

And Annabeth only become more and more outraged. The more they saw Rome, the more famous landmarks she saw were missing.

She listed them all in her head in an angry tirade. _Trajan's Column, __Piazza Barberini__, what's next? The Coliseum is just going to, what, _explode_?!_

They drove up to the Piazza Venezia and saw Frank, Hazel, Reyna, and Leo walking.

They drove up to them, and Annabeth leaned over the edge and said, "We have disturbing news."

"We do, too," Reyna said.

* * *

><p><strong>Missing <em>landmarks<em>? How do the regular people not see that? Well, this is getting interesting...**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	44. Chapter 44

**Hey, everyone!**

**This chapter leads to some action, so bear with me, please! I'll try to have the next chapter up reallt soon!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 44<p>

Annabeth

They found Jason and Piper lounging around in the Piazza Venezia, so they decided to stay there and talk about what they saw.

Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Reyna went first.

"There were statues and paintings missing throughout the museum," Hazel said solemnly.

"And a window," Frank cut in.

"Do you really think that's important?!" Reyna snapped at him.

"I don't know, maybe…" Frank admitted.

"Well, we saw something worse," Percy replied, and Annabeth couldn't help but think of one of those crime fighting television shows.

When she was younger, she used to love watching NCIS and _Law & Order _with her father on Saturday afternoons and sick days.

"Landmarks are missing, and nobody even seems to notice it! I mean all the work that went into that, so when all this famous landmarks go missing, _nobody seems to care_! The nerve of these people!" Annabeth ranted to no one in particular, but was expecting Percy to be listening.

And so, of course, he wasn't.

"Wow," Piper said. "I didn't know things were this serious. We didn't see anything like that."

"Well, except for the couple windows missing in those shops," Jason replied sarcastically.

"Haha," Frank said.

Hazel giggled a little bit, but Annabeth wanted to get down to business.

"So, did anybody find anything about where Gaea could be?" Annabeth asked impatiently.

"No…" Leo admitted. "But I do know that I look amazing in a gold, yellow and pink scarf."

"Pink?" Percy asked.

"You both are specifically off topic," Reyna rolled her eyes. "Like I said earlier, I'm just glad Leo's cute."

"And Percy's powerful. Apparently," Annabeth added.

Percy looked taken aback for just a second, before Annabeth smiled and he said, "Come here, you," and drew her close, kissed her quickly, and then let her go.

"Now we need a strategy. A plan, something easy to follow that we'll be able to add to later." Hazel said.

"We could look for the rest of today, meet up tonight and sleep somewhere, then look again tomorrow and meet back here at seven PM," Leo volunteered. "Then we can work from there."

"Okay then," Annabeth said. "I really like that idea."

Percy's hand shot up in the air, then pointed to Leo and said, "I vote Leo."

After they all shared murmured agreements, and Leo felt proud of himself, they all parted ways once again.

As Percy led Annabeth back toward their car, Percy started to laugh.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm imagining their reactions if they asked where we got the car. That story is going in the memory book!" Percy laughed as he sat in the driver's seat and started the car.

"I think you mean history book, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth buckled her seat belt as they drove off.

"What historian is going to put the expert car stealing of a couple of demigods with, might I add, _fantastic _acting skills, in a book for people to read?" Percy looked at her for a second, then looked back at the abandoned road.

"The crazy ones," Annabeth replied.

"And no one is going to read a crazy historian's history book. So, I've decided a memory book would be much more appropriate."

They'd been driving for about an hour and a half when Annabeth glanced over her door to the outside world.

Annabeth laughed slightly at the quickly passing scenery, big slits of light only appearing through the trees every so often.

_It kind of reminds me of how a black light finds the invisible ink. Only the important stuff shows up. _Annabeth thought gleefully.

_Light…light…oh gods, _she thought, and turned to Percy. "Percy, where's the sword?"

"Relax," Percy said. "I threw it in the trunk, it's here."

But everything Nemisis said started clicking into place, about the sword and following the light to find Gaea, and Annabeth couldn't stop.

"She wasn't trying to draw us in like Leo suspected! She was telling us how to find Gaea!" Annabeth said excitedly.

"Annabeth, what are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"Stop the car," Annabeth looked at him.

"Annabeth-" Percy started, but Annabeth shouted, "Stop the car, Seaweed Brain!"

Percy shivered slightly. "Gonna have to try to forget about that."

"About what?" Annabeth asked.

"Never mind, tell you later," Percy replied hastily as he pulled over on the side of the road.

She jumped over her door and ran to the truck. She threw it open and saw the sword laying there, looking like a regular sword with a gold hilt and the red ruby gem.

Percy was suddenly behind her, and when he reached around here to pick it up, she shivered slightly.

"It doesn't seem to be lighting the way," Percy said as he juggled it between his hands.

"Nemisis said I had to hold it," Annabeth replied and took it from him.

The sword suddenly started to vibrate slightly in her hand, and she could barely make out a faint glow of yellow light radiating off its dull gray blade.

"I am so lucky you love me," Percy said in shock as Annabeth stabbed the air with the new weapon.

"Haha," she said sarcastically as she started walking in one direction.

The light started to fade, so she turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

"I get it," she said as it returned to its faint glowing, and then started to dull out again, "it's like a game of hot or cold. When it's at its brightest, Gaea should be there."

"Great," Percy said as Annabeth turned and started walking toward the road.

"Well," Annabeth said, and jumped back in the car. "Let's follow the light.'

"Or, we can go back to Piazza Venezia and tell everybody," Percy replied.

"But that'll take forever to find everybody," Annabeth said.

"Well, according to Leo's plan, we had two days, anyway," Percy replied. "So a couple hours won't hurt us too badly," Percy said as he got in the driver's seat, put them back on the road and turned around. They sped off back toward the Piazza Venezia.

It actually took them fifteen hours and fifty seven minutes to find everybody.

Piper and Jason had been planning on staying in a hotel, so they had to search a lot longer. At least they'd had Reyna, Leo, Frank and Hazel to help them search. They'd basically found them right away.

"Okay," Annabeth said as she looked to Percy for backup.

The light had faded completely on their search for their friends, so there was nothing to show them.

Percy, however, was looked back at the horizon and the rising sun. She too was mesmerized by the bright orange color of the sky, fading pink near the top and bright yellow surrounding the Earth's surface in a sort of glow, but only for a second.

She elbowed Percy and he looked back over with a muffled, "What?" and Piper laughed slightly.

"Okay," Annabeth started. "I figured out what Nemisis meant when she told us to follow the light."

"She's evil and wants us to die?" Leo piped up, and frank elbowed him.

A little too hard.

Leo fell and hit the ground hard. "Hey!" he shouted up to Frank.

Frank looked down at him, and Leo replied, "How's the weather up there?"

Frank rolled his eyes and looked away.

Leo got up, brushed off, muttered something Annabeth couldn't catch, and before she was ready, all the attention was back on her.

"Oh, um, okay then," she muttered. "What was I saying?"

"You figured out what Nemisis meant, and then Leo suggested she was evil and wanted us all to die," Hazel informed her.

"Oh, right. Thanks," Annabeth thanked her. "Okay, while Percy and I were driving around, I figured it out. So, we went to the trunk, pulled out the sword, and it _glows_."

"What?" Reyna asked, shocked. "No, that's not scientifically possible! Metals don't _glow_."

"If we're on that topic," Percy said, looking at Reyna like she's lost it, "then _we _aren't 'scientifically possible'."

Reyna looked slightly embarrassed, but she muttered, "Oh yeah, right. Sometimes I just…forget that."

"That's okay," Annabeth answered.

"So," Piper tried to place the conversation back on its original track, "why isn't it glowing now?"

"I don't know," Annabeth answered honestly, looking down at the magical blade in her hand. She could see her slightly distorted and red tinted reflection in the round ruby.

"I think I know," Frank muttered.

And then Annabeth realized it. "Because 'Wisdom's daughter walks alone'."

"'The Mark of Athena Burns through Rome,'" Percy offered. "Good news is, everyone in Rome will know you."

"Yeah, sure," Annabeth scoffed. The Mist would prevent that, and for once, Annabeth was grateful.

Usually, she gets really bummed that the world will never get to see the amazing buildings she's designed for Mount Olympus, but this time, she's thankful for the secrecy in this heroic endeavor.

"So, she has to do this alone?" Jason asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Yes, yes I do." Annabeth said, with more strength than she thought she had in her, "But I'm ready to do it."

"Okay. So…do we let you go off on your own now, or…what?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. The sooner I find Gaea, the sooner this is all over. Bye, guys. Let's hope you all end up okay without me," Annabeth joked.

And that's when there was a shadow that Annabeth saw out of the corner of her eye, and then they were suddenly surrounded in demons.

And they were at battle.

* * *

><p><strong>DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUH! AMBUSH! <strong>

**And just when they finally started putting all the pieces together!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	45. Chapter 45

**Hey, everybody!**

**Am I doing a better job of updating? I hope I am, because I felt bad for leaving you hanging for so long!**

**Sorry it's so short, but it should be funny and I hope the action's worth it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 45<p>

Percy

As the demons flooded in, Percy drew Riptide and slashed at every demon in sight, and behind the demons insight due to Riptide's range.

He looked around for Annabeth whenever he got a break, but he was quickly swallowed in another layer wave of demon.

He knew his friends were doing okay. Occasionally, an arrow whizzed by and killed one of Percy's demon attackers, a demon body part would whiz by sometimes as well, and he knew that Reyna was doing fine as well.

Percy looked around for Annabeth again, but he couldn't find her.

There was a sudden shadow cast against the demons in front of him, and a sudden burst of fire shot up into the sky.

A couple burst up, and Percy heard Leo scream, "DIE, DEMONS, DIE!"

Percy stabbed and cut the heads off a couple more demons and laughed. "DIE!"

More fire columns shot up, but this time, demon bodies were shot up with them. "He told you you would die!" Percy shouted to the demon ashes falling from the sky like yellow snow.

Percy shivered and cut the head off a demon.

Or, what he _thought _was the head. It was actually the top of the demon, but when he turned away, it grabbed him and started trying to twist his head off.

Percy screamed and slashed at the beast, and was finally able to sink his sword into its leg.

The demon shuddered and turned to sand around him, getting dust in his mouth and stuck to his neck with the sweat he was producing.

"Ew," he muttered and wiped it off with he back of his hand and stabbed a couple more demons in various places, and he kicked over a couple piles of sand for sport as he ran to find Annabeth, killing demons along the way.

That made Percy think of a new version of a Christmas carol:

_Dashing through the grass_

_ And a lot of demon sand!_

_ Looking for Annabeth!_

_ And causing instant death! Oh,_

_ Stabbing demons,_

_ Stabbing demons,_

_ Stabbing all the way!_

_ Stabbing all until you find,_

_ Annabeth's okay!_

_ HEY!_

He laughed at the stupid song and found himself humming the tune as he killed things.

Then he realized that made him sound like a sociopath, so he stopped and focused on finding Annabeth.

In the end, ended the song with:

_Oh what fun it is _

_ To run,_

_ Killing demons everyday!_

_ Hey!_

And then he found Annabeth. She was holding the sword in one hand, and her bronze knife in the other, stabbing at demons in her way as she ran around, looking for…something.

He ran up, jumped, and sliced a demon in half with a loud cry, and landed in front of Annabeth.

"Need a hand?" he asked.

"I need an escape. Hold him off while I follow the light of the sword!" she replied.

He nodded. "When you get back, there's a song I want to sing you!"

"If," Annabeth corrected, "but I think I'll live, just to hear it."

And Percy fought off the demons, and watched as Annabeth sheathed her dagger, pulled out the sword, turned around and ran.

The words she said rang through his head like a bell:

_If; but I think I'll live, just for that._

_ If only you could control it, Annabeth._

* * *

><p><strong>Stabbing demons, stabbing demons, stabbing all the way! I thought it was clever, and I'm kind of in the Christmas-y mood! I hope you all enjoyed it, and please remember: <em>Oh what fun it isto run/killing demons everyday! Hey!_**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	46. Chapter 46

**Hey, everyone! **

**I just wanted to mention something that I wanted to say: I've thrown my perpective cycle out the window! Now it's just Annabeth's perspective, so I hope you enjoy it! **

**Another heads up: THIS IS EITHER MY THIRD OR SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 46<p>

Annabeth

Honestly, finding Gaea was pretty easy.

All she had to do was wonder around while the sword pointed her in the right direction.

She passed a jewelry shop, and she saw the people inside looking at her through the window.

She wondered what they saw. Maybe her magical sword was a golden baseball bat. Or maybe there were other things, like a hand-gun.

That's probably why a woman on the street corner looked so scared.

And also explains why the old man she passed kept screaming, "Don't shoot! DON'T SHOOT!"

Annabeth had learned something else about the sword.

When it glowed red, she was near some kind of mythological creature she would probably have to beat up.

She found that out on the old man. He turned out to be s demigod working for Gaea.

It's made Annabeth sad to put him down like she did, with a golden sword to the throat.

She came to an intersection in the road she was walking on. She turned right, but the sword's light started to dim, so she back tracked and went the other way.

But, when she moved too far to the right, the light started to dim as well, so she back tracked again.

She quickly got an idea, and she went and stood in the center of the intersection.

The sword lit up the brightest it she had ever seen it, and when she tilted the golden blade, she the reflection of her face, hair, and the shoulders of her shirt, all tinted gold from the blade.

There was a low whisper; the voice was unidentifiable to Annabeth, but it said something she clearly understood: "_The Mark of Athena_."

A bright flash of light erupted from the sword's blade, moving in a circular wave over Annabeth as she shrieked and closed her eyes.

There was loud popping and cracking sounds around her, and when she opened her eyes, she looked down and saw that there was a huge crack at her feet, expanding.

She followed the crack's trail, and saw that there was a huge crack the circled around her, about five feet away.

There was another popping sound, and just as Annabeth realized what was going on, the street under her crumbled to minuscule bits, and she plummeted down the hole with a short scream.

She landed on hard earth, and as she stood up and brushed herself off, she looked around.

The only light came from the huge hole above her, and she saw that the dirt was an orangish brown.

She bent over, curious, and dug some of it up with her hand, and found it to be clay. Natural clay.

She dropped it back into the hole she made, and suddenly, the cave shook.

She gasped slightly and ran out of the large beam of light and into the pick black shadows.

When nothing else came, and the cave was still, she crept back out into the open and looked around again.

"Okay, Annabeth, you need a plan," she mumbled.

A sudden idea popped into her mind. _What if the sword will lead me through the cave?_

Then she realized she wasn't holding it anymore.

She spun around frantically, and realized she must have lost it during the fall. She searched around in the light, then she searched with her hands in the shadows.

Nothing.

She came back into the light with clay-caked hands and orange stained wrists, and when she looked up through the hole, she saw something glint in the light on one of the walls and took a sharp intake of breath.

The sword was stuck in the wall, blade inches deep into the clay walls.

She cursed slightly, then she wondered how she was going to get up there and get it.

For a split second, she wished she was with Jason, so he could just fly up and get it for her.

But she soon shook the feeling off and tried to think of a way up herself.

And just as quickly, an idea struck her.

She ran over to a wall. The clay was cool, unlike the warm clay in the sun, and she started to grip the clay section into a point.

She smiled and made it large enough for her to grab onto. She then kicked the wall with her foot. About two inches above the indent she made, she made a hole, deep and large enough for the front half of her foot to fit into. She lifted herself up on it and the hand hold she'd already made, and made another hand hole for her next hand, while kicking the wall with her free foot.

She climbed down and created the next hole for her other foot. She continued to move up the wall and create hand holds the soon turned into knee/foot holds. She spit some hair out of her mouth, trying to finish the hold she was working on, when it suddenly broke, and her face crashed against the hard clay wall.

She gave a small yelp, then she groan she barely pushed herself off the wall, pressing her hands on it, and resting her forehead on the wall.

Her nose felt crooked, but she could take the risk of lifting a hand to check. She also felt the warm liquid rushing from her nose, over her lips, and salty in her mouth.

She tried to back off the wall, slowly, but she nearly fell off.

She widened her eyes and dug her fingernails into the hard wall.

A couple off her soft fingernails tore off, and she grimaced but rebalanced herself on the wall. She began again with the hand hold, and finally moved up on the wall.

Her finger tips brushed the spot where her face crashed briefly and found it to be wet and sticky.

She looked at her hand, and the orange clay on her fingertips was now coated in red, sticky nose blood.

She shuddered slightly, but kept moving upward to the sword.

She finally reached the golden hilt of her magical sword and used the hilt as her last hand hold, and dug her remaining fingernails into her previous hold as she tugged on the sword.

She tugged a couple more times until it came loose, then she stopped, waited as she regained her balance, then drew it out slowly the rest of the way.

Annabeth tried to climb down, but couldn't do it with one hand. Her next dilemma: her sword wouldn't fit in her mouth.

So, she did the only next rational thing she could think of: she slit a hole in her shirt the size of the blade and slid it quickly against her back, the metal cool against her spine, stopping abruptly when the hilt hit the slit.

She climbed down as quietly and as quickly has she could. The thought that other people were near by still nagged at her.

She hopped down quickly and snaked into the shadows. She crouched and listened, then she quickly crouch-walked down the way, lightly traced her fingertips over the wall, the light fading behind her.

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><p><strong>Oooh, ominous cave! Good luck, Annabeth!<strong>

**So, I just wanted to recap down here: No more perspective wheel, and this is either my third to last or second to last chapter! It's probably third to last, unless I make some sudden changes I'm not planning on right now.**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	47. Chapter 47

**Hey, everyone!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm hoping to make my next chapter very long and full of action, and worth the wait!**

**This is not the last chapter! Thanks so much you guys for reading!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 47<p>

Annabeth

There was a sudden noise, and Annabeth stopped moving, and pressed her back against the wall, the cool metal of the blade pressing against her hot and sweaty skin.

She had been moving for what felt like an hour, in the shadows against a wall, and had passed so many twists and intersections she had no idea where she was.

But she'd passed so many monsters that it sickened her.

Mutant elephants with snakes eyes and tusks growing out of their backs, Chimeras, Hydras dripping with sand and some blood, any Greek Mythology character Annabeth could think of, she saw at least _one _of them in the cave she was in.

The noise grew louder, and then she heard voices.

"…to find _us _on guard duty!" a voice hissed.

"Excatly!" a young sounding, big voice boomed and echoed through the cave.

"Um, Sean, I think the word is, 'Exactly' not, 'Excatly'." The hiss voice said.

"I don't care!" the baby voice, apparently Sean, whined. "I saw what I want, get over it!"

"Whatever! Let's just report back to Gaea about the blood we found on the wall, and be _done _with this job!" the voice hissed.

"Don't forget the hand holes, indents, and fingernails we found!" Sean muttered.

"Shut up, Sean!" the voice hissed.

"Sorry, Jack…" Sean whispered, and they moved on.

_They're going to alert Gaea I'm here!_ She thought frantically. _Wait, they're heading toward Gaea! I should just follow them! _And she crept quietly off the wall, and followed the noises the two monsters made.

* * *

><p>Annabeth finally saw a light in the doorway of a cave. She could finally see Jack and Sean: Sean was a Cyclopes, hunched over to fit in the cave, and Sean was a snake with two legs attached to the underside of his tail, and two arms attached to his sides.<p>

He was covered in scales from head, to fingertips, to tail tip, to toes. He was a blue color, with a hint of green. He stuck his tongue out at random times and hissed, and Annabeth shivered.

They finally made their way into the cave full of light, and it took Annabeth a couple seconds to adjust before sprinting in herself and hid behind a boulder by the entrance.

"Gaea," Jack hissed. "We have urgent news that could disrupt your rising!"

"We found demigod blood on the wall, and a big hole that lead up to the world above, and fingernails stuck in the wall, and mounds of clay sticking out of the wall with fingerprints on them," Sean said.

"_I think…_" a sleepy voice the reverberated around the cave that could be no one's but Gaea's, "_that the Daughter of Athena got here just in time. Good work on bringing her to me, boys_."

"But we didn't," Sean said.

"_Oh, but you did. Isn't that right, Annabeth? Come out and join us_!" Gaea said, and Annabeth reluctantly stepped out from behind her boulder.

Jack hissed and got into lunging position, hit tongue flapping all around, while Sean backed up a step and muttered, "Wasn't expecting that."

"SHOW YOURSELF, GAEA!" Annabeth hollered. "YOU _COWARD_!"

Gaea laughed and said, "_Unfortunately, I'm needed elsewhere. I won't be a coward for too much longer, Annabeth Chase. I think you should join me, actually_. Grab her!"

And before Annabeth could make a noise, Jack had lunged at her, pinned her to the ground, and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to her knees.

She groaned in pain as her head started to hurt, but them the ground vortexed below her, and she and Sean were pulled underground, and spit out from the ceiling of a new cave.

To Annabeth's surprise, she landed on her feet, and Jack fell on his face beside her, his grip on her gone.

She drew her bronze knife and stalked out of the shadows of the room.

She reached the big pool of light, and found she was standing on a ledge. She walked to edge of it and peered down.

She gasped and staggered back. A big, stone body was being formed from stone, and it was five _times _the size of any giants she'd heard of.

Thousands of demons were placing a head on the rest of the body, and Annabeth realized what the plan for the body was.

The demons backed away from their complete statue, and it suddenly shook and sat up. The statue blinked, opened its stone mouth and laughed with the voice of Gaea. It stood, and soon its eyes were level with Annabeth.

_Well, _Annabeth thought numbly as the statue cackled again and raised a hand to grab her. _At least now I know where Frank's window got to_.

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><p><strong>Oh. My. Gods.<strong>

**Gaea is a _statue_?! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT?**

**Thanks for Reading! ;)**


	48. Chapter 48

**Hey, everyone!**

**THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER OF MY Mark of Athena! Thank you all so much for reading and being loyal to me!**

**Okay, I won't talk too much, and just let you guys read!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 48<p>

Annabeth

Annabeth turned to run, but Gaea's stone hand grabbed her waist and lifted her into the air, right in front of Gaea's glass eyes.

"_Who's the coward _now_, Annabeth_?" Gaea hissed. "_Now, if you'll excuse me, I think we both need some fresh air_," And Gaea climbed up of the ledge, and climbed up the clay wall of the cave, Annabeth screaming as the cave shook like there was an earthquake, chunks of clay rock falling down on all the demons that had just built Gaea's current body.

Gaea finally climbed out of the hole in the ground, and she cackled and laughed as she stepped on a building, and Annabeth recognized right away; the jewelry store Annabeth had passed on her way to find Gaea.

Gaea had just killed maybe twenty people.

As she walked through town, crushing buildings, people, stepping into traffic, Annabeth could hear the screaming city above them.

Annabeth soon realized that Gaea was walking the way that she had come from to find her.

Which meant she was trying to find her friends.

Annabeth got really angry, really fast, and she screaming in frustration and pounded on Gaea's stone fist.

"_Oh, don't be spoil-sport, Annabeth_," Gaea chided as she killed more people, crushed more buildings, and broke through an electric power line. Then Gaea stepped into an open field and started running, and Annabeth realized she was closer to them than she thought.

And then, she saw them.

Six, tiny-looking people, standing maybe hundreds of feet below her, the ground around them for maybe a mile golden from the demon sand.

_Gold_, Annabeth thought, and then it hit her. _The sword_!

She drew the sword from the slit in the back of her shirt, and stabbed Gaea's hand with it.

It pierced the stone like it was butter, and Gaea shrieked as her hand started smoking. She released Annabeth, and Annabeth was dangling from Gaea's hand by the hilt of the magical sword as Gaea continued to shriek and started to swing her hand.

Annabeth dragged the sword through the stone and Gaea shrieked louder.

Then, the sword went completely through her hand, and Annabeth, the sword, and all the fingers on Gaea's right hand when plummeting toward the ground.

As the ground rushed toward her, so did her friends.

She prayed to Athena her death would be quick and rather painless when she hit the ground, but then she saw Jason flying up to meet her.

He grabbed her, and as she was in his arms, he said, "Percy sent me, if you're wondering." And then they started their quick but steady descend to the ground.

As soon as her feet touched the ground and Jason let her go, the first thing Annabeth got was a hug from Percy.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked, and he backed away and looked her in the eyes.

Then his expression turned grave when he saw her nose. "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing, Percy, I slipped when I was climbing a wall to get the sword. I'll be okay, it's not bleeding anymore."

He kissed her gently, and then he let her go. "We have a Gaea to fight."

She smiled, but then she said, "I think you mean _I _have a Gaea to fight. This is my quest, remember? She might want to kill you, too, but I have to do this alone."

Percy looked upset. "I know you do, but I don't _want _you too!"

"Percy, Jason, get everyone to safety. I'll be back. I promise," Annabeth said, and she turned and walked back over to Gaea, who had finally regained control of herself, and her hand wasn't smoking anymore.

"_You sick little _peasant_!_" She spat.

"'Peasant'?" Annabeth asked. "Seriously?"

"_Die!_" Gaea shouted, and dropped her left fist onto Annabeth.

She rolled out of the way and stabbed the fist.

This time, cracks shaped like a spider web appeared and broke her fist into tiny pieces.

She backed up as the pieces smoked and Gaea screamed again.

_Why isn't Gaea dying? _Annabeth thought as she calculated the damages she'd made.

_I guess it doesn't spread farther than a small section of her stone body_, Annabeth thought as Gaea regained her composure and came after her again.

_So, how do I_, Annabeth thought as she rolled out the way of another flying stone fist, _get to her heart? Or do I target her brain? Does she even _have_ either of those?_

She hacked at Gaea's arm with the sword, and this time, her entire arm smoked and melted.

She screeched, and then Annabeth thought of a way up to kill her.

"You call yourself powerful? A sword I could buy at _Michael's _is melting you to pieces! You're much more pitiful than I thought!" Annabeth taunted.

Gaea screeched in rage and threw another fist down.

Annabeth rolled out of the way and then turned and climbed up onto the stone fist.

Trying to balance, she ran up Gaea's arm as Gaea's fingerless stone hand swatted at her, breaking off the stone behind her, ruining her escape plan.

"_You're making me break myself! Stop running, foolish demigod, and just _face your **death**_!_" Gaea shouted.

Annabeth had finally made it up Gaea's arm and was standing on her shoulder. Gaea smashed a fingerless fist on the shoulder as Annabeth rolled out of the way and in next to the base of Gaea's neck.

Gaea tried to grab Annabeth, but the only arm she had left had a fingerless hand on it. Annabeth couldn't help but laugh before she knelt and stabbed Gaea's stone chest where a heart on a human would have been.

Cracks spider webbed across the left side of her chest, but it didn't shatter, and Gaea laughed.

"_You honestly think I have a heart? I'm made of stone, girl! I'm the spirit of the Earth!_" Gaea continued to laugh, and then Annabeth thought for a second.

_She doesn't have a heart, and she said she's the spirit of the Earth, so she also has no brain. Wait, isn't the spirit another name for the soul? _And Annabeth thought of something she never would have thought of in a situation like this, _Medusa says that the eyes are the gateway to the soul. That's how she turns people to stone._

"So, to get to Gaea's soul," Annabeth crept out slightly from under Gaea's chin and saw her glass eyes staring down at her angrily, "I have to get through the eyes." She smiled. "No problem."

Gaea tried to grab Annabeth again, and this time Annabeth grabbed her hand and held on as Gaea lifted it up to her face, so Annabeth was eye level with Gaea.

"_How does it feel to be helpless, Annabeth?_" Gaea taunted.

"I don't know. I'll ask you in a minute, though," Annabeth replied, and kicked Gaea's right eyes until it shattered.

Gaea screeched and tried to pull Annabeth away from her eyes, but Annabeth swung and flung herself into the hole just big enough for her to fit.

She hit some stones protruding around the inside of her shell.

She took the magic sword and started stabbing at anything and everything she saw, slashing and bashing, turning stone into chunks and liquid, filling the place with smoke.

Annabeth couched but kept going as she heard Gaea screaming.

She took a break from destroying; the air was too smoky for her to see of breath very well.

She decided to break open the other eye and get back to work.

She climbed the stones until she reached the two glass sections and kicked the remaining one to pieces.

The smoke soon flooded over there, and she nearly fell out as she continued to cough.

She made her way back down, and she continued to hack at everything.

Then, the screaming suddenly got louder. And then she realized it wasn't getting louder, but closer.

"How is that possible?" she thought aloud, and then she saw it.

Across the ledge she was on (Gaea's body went way lower than she was willing to), was what looked like a big, silver blob, coming out of the wall, and bringing the screaming with it.

Annabeth stabbed at couple more things, and then finally, the silver blob separated form the wall, and took the shape of a woman, but she rooted herself to the stone ledge, footless.

She shrieked, and glided across the ledge toward her. Then, she said, "_You will _die_!_"

_Gaea_, Annabeth thought as she drew her sword. _Let's get this over with. _

Annabeth made the first strike, but Gaea lurched backward and lunged for her again.

Annabeth parried with her sword, and Gaea's spirit began to smoke as well. She screeched in alarm and flung herself backward.

"_This shouldn't _happen_!_" Gaea hissed. Her eyes flew to my sword. "_What is that? Where did you get it?!_"

Annabeth didn't answer. Instead, she took Gaea's moment of shock to lunch for her heart.

Gaea dodged and smacked Annabeth, sending her flying against the wall.

And then, there was a loud creaking sound, and Annabeth and Gaea stopped.

"Um, how is this thing staying up, exactly?" Annabeth asked.

"I left it in a balanced position," Gaea replied.

"Well," Annabeth said, "I think I might have just tipped it."

And then the stone started to tilt, and Annabeth was sent tumbling toward the stone head, and she slipped through one of the eyes.

She grabbed the edge of the eye socket quickly, and as she hung there, dangling, the broken pieces of glass stabbing into her fingers and cutting them. And as she hung there, she thought of Percy.

_I promised him I'd come back. There was a song he wanted to sing me. I promised_, Annabeth thought, and she tried to lift herself up while the world spun around her.

She almost slipped on her own blood. She looked down, and saw the sword in her dangling hand.

She slid the sword into the tear in her shirt, and grabbed the ledge with her now free hand.

She tried to pull herself up again, but she just didn't have enough upper body strength.

Then she remembered that she was on a flat surface. She could use her _feet_.

She climbed Gaea's face with her feet, and pulled herself through the socket and tumbled down, trying to protect her hands.

She started pulling glass pieces out of her hands and then remembered she was supposed to be fight Gaea and fulfilling a prophecy.

She pulled out the last shard and drew her sword once more.

She saw Gaea. Gaea was just standing there, looking a little scared.

Annabeth ran up to her, and Gaea said, "_Die, demigod_!"

"Or, you can," Annabeth replied. "Gaea, tell me, how does it feel to be completely helpless?" And not even waiting for her answer, she shoved her sword into Gaea's chest, and she screeched, smoked, and exploded, blowing Annabeth backward, and as soon as she hit the wall, the stone statue the ground and shattered.

* * *

><p>Annabeth's eyes blinked open, and she groaned and sat up. A couple things shifted off her, and she grumbled, "My head hurts."<p>

"Hey, I think I heard something," Annabeth heard Hazel say.

"Annabeth?" Annabeth heard Percy say, excitedly. "Was it her voice?"

"Is she blonde? Gray eyes? Ripped clothes, dirty, and a bloody nose?" Annabeth asked.

Percy ran to her voice, pulled her up, and kissed her. They broke apart, and then Percy smiled. "Yeah, that's her."

"I guess you found her, then." Annabeth smiled, and hugged him.

"I promised I would come back," Annabeth whispered into his ear.

"I never doubted you," Percy replied.

And then they were all on her, hugging her and Piper was even almost crying.

"We did it, guys," Annabeth said. "We're all alive."

* * *

><p><strong>It's over, guys! They did it, and now everyone is ALIVE! <strong>

**Okay, now I just want to make this clear to people: I ENDED IT HAPPILY SO THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WRITE A SEQUEL TO THIS ONE, and focus on the sequel to the real Mark of Athena!**

**Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and how cool is it, that I finished my MoA (first Fanfiction story for me to _ever _finish!) 2 DAYS before my 1-year-anniversary on Fanfiction! **

**I want to thank everyone for being a reader, but I really want to thank Blondie B Happy for being a supportive cousin for when things went wrong, and for being a friend with ideas and being...well, a cousin! You'll always be the first person I go to when I look for story advice!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


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